Trainer Paul O'Sullivan admitted that he had not expected the penny to drop with Goldie Flanker so quickly, but now that the four-year-old has put three consecutive wins together, he is starting to feel that his horse can head even higher.
The Sam Clipperton-ridden Goldie Flanker (121lb) produced a meeting-fastest final 400m sectional of 22.10s, coming from second-last to win by a length and a quarter. His turn of foot even drew comparisons with one of Hong Kong's star gallopers.
"Maybe he's the Pakistan Star of dirt Class 4 racing," O'Sullivan said with a laugh. "Don't get too carried away, we'll see where he gets later on. He has got very strong sectionals though, he was probably standing them three lengths at the 200m and he picked them up nicely. He is a promising young horse."
Goldie Flanker had showed little in his first eight starts, but O'Sullivan puts that down to inexperience and also the Rip Van Winkle gelding's penchant for overracing over 1400m.
"When he arrived in Hong Kong, he had very little education – he hadn't trialled or anything like that," he said. "This is a very difficult place if you lack experience. He just had to go through the motions. I certainly didn't expect he could win like this once, let alone three times.
"I was running him over 1400m and he was pulling his head off, so I thought I needed to bring him back to 1200m. There's always speed on the dirt which I thought would suit, and he had trialled well on it once, so I sent him there and away he went. Next season, I could see him getting up to 1650m, but I think he can progress even further after the off-season." -HKJC
The Sam Clipperton-ridden Goldie Flanker (121lb) produced a meeting-fastest final 400m sectional of 22.10s, coming from second-last to win by a length and a quarter. His turn of foot even drew comparisons with one of Hong Kong's star gallopers.
"Maybe he's the Pakistan Star of dirt Class 4 racing," O'Sullivan said with a laugh. "Don't get too carried away, we'll see where he gets later on. He has got very strong sectionals though, he was probably standing them three lengths at the 200m and he picked them up nicely. He is a promising young horse."
Goldie Flanker had showed little in his first eight starts, but O'Sullivan puts that down to inexperience and also the Rip Van Winkle gelding's penchant for overracing over 1400m.
"When he arrived in Hong Kong, he had very little education – he hadn't trialled or anything like that," he said. "This is a very difficult place if you lack experience. He just had to go through the motions. I certainly didn't expect he could win like this once, let alone three times.
"I was running him over 1400m and he was pulling his head off, so I thought I needed to bring him back to 1200m. There's always speed on the dirt which I thought would suit, and he had trialled well on it once, so I sent him there and away he went. Next season, I could see him getting up to 1650m, but I think he can progress even further after the off-season." -HKJC