Gun Pit smokes rivals in Hong Kong Reunification Cup

01/07/2015

Gun Pit broke his own course record to score a cosy win in the feature race at Sha Tin today (Wednesday 1 July), the Hong Kong Reunification Cup (Handicap). Victory in the Hong Kong Reunification Raceday’s main event took Caspar Fownes’s charge another stride closer to a possible overseas venture next season.

The Dubawi gelding stopped the clock at 1m 37.36s in the 1650m Class 2 contest and so maintained his 100 percent record on Sha Tin’s all-weather surface, despite shouldering top-weight of 133lb. The victory was his sixth from six starts on the dirt and a seventh from 17 Hong Kong outings all told.

“It’s nice to get the record again with such a good dirt horse,” said trainer Caspar Fownes, who watched the gelding knock three hundredths of a second off his previous standout time. “I’m very happy; he’s showing everyone how good he is on this surface. To carry 133lb again and get another course record with him again is very good indeed.”

Gun Pit’s win this afternoon was achieved off a Hong Kong rating of 105 and Fownes believes there is more in the four-year-old’s tank – enough to make him a viable G1 contender on dirt. 

“I want to build him into a Group 1 horse on this surface, to be able to travel him overseas,” said Fownes. “He’ll probably go up another seven points, which gets him close to that travelling mark.

“Hopefully we’re able to get his rating high enough to be able to travel him to Japan or Dubai or the United States because he deserves a crack at them. He’s shown he’s very good on that surface and he’ll even get further, so he’d be a mile to 2000-metre horse on that track.”

Zac Purton guided Gun Pit through a smooth passage, posting handy in mid rank, as apprentice Jack Wong led the 12 runners aboard the John Moore-trained Pablosky. Purton shifted his mount four wide on the turn for home, and, as Ben So booted the John Size-trained Sichuan Vigour to the lead with the entire stretch before them, Gun Pit was already beginning to motor.

With a concession of 16lb to Sichuan Vigour, Gun Pit had to work to overhaul that rival, Purton urging with just enough vigour of his own to ensure that his mount rolled ahead close home for an impressive three quarter-length success. There was a three-length break to the Richard Gibson-trained Obliterator in third.

“I didn’t want him too far back,” said Fownes. “His fitness was pretty good – he had a nice break and a couple of trials just to tune him up. I switched him on for the last trial, last week, and from a decent draw he sat midfield, sixth or seventh position, and Zac just kept him out of trouble. It was a strong effort in the end.”

The Hon. John Tsang, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, presented the winning trophy to Gun Pit’s winning owners.

Fownes notched a notable double on the day to keep alive his slim hopes of keeping hold of the Champion Trainer title he won last term. The handler saddled I’m In Charge to land the day’s Class 1 contest, the High Autonomy Handicap (1200m). Matthew Chadwick was the man in the saddle.

Fownes ended the day with 58 wins on the board for the season. That tally is still five shy of the current table-topper John Moore (63 wins) and two adrift of second-place incumbent John Size (60) who sent out High Warrior to win the Class 4 Racing Goes On Handicap (2000m) under Nash Rawiller.

A crowd of more than 23,000 enjoyed the action on-course.