New Zealand-bred gelding Gunga Din (NZ) (ShamExpress) relished a hot race tempo at Rosehill in Sydney on Saturday to street his Highway Handicap rivals and pull off another training coup for veteran Canberra trainer Keith Dryden.
Jockey Nash Rawiller settled Gunga Din midfield in the 1800m event and the four-year-old quickly gathered in his rivals on straightening to score a runaway four-length win.
Dryden did not make the trip to Rosehill but Louis Mihalyka, syndicate manager for Laurel Oak Bloodstock and co-Australian and New Zealand based owners, said the victory by Gunga Din was the icing on the cake after winning the A$1.3 million The Kosciuszko in the spring with Handle The Truth (Star Witness).
“Fantastic. It has been a great year and that has capped it off,” Mihalyka said.
“When the pace was on we knew that would suit us.
“We were drawn a bit wide but Nash was patient and it worked out brilliantly.
“The plan was to get to today and he continues to improve so we will see what happens now.”
“Fantastic. It has been a great year and that has capped it off,” Mihalyka said.
“When the pace was on we knew that would suit us.
“We were drawn a bit wide but Nash was patient and it worked out brilliantly.
“The plan was to get to today and he continues to improve so we will see what happens now.”
Gunga Din was bred by the Estate of the late Lawrence Redshaw and Geoff Candy and was purchased by Laurel Oak Bloodstock from Windsor Park Stud’s 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale yearling draft for $90,000.
Lady Kipling has also produced recent Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival Gr.2 winner Fascino (Charm Spirit) and will be represented at the 2020 Karaka Book 1 yearling sale next month by Lot 38, a filly from the first crop of Champion Sprinter & Middle Distance Horse Turn Me Loose (Iffraaj).
