North Dakota(No 5)
North Dakota added to his growing reputation when overcoming a late change of distance to win one of the three feature events at the inaugural China Horse Capital CHIA Cup race meeting in Xilanhaote over the weekend.
The CHIA Cup doubled as the official launch of the new racecourse in Xilanhaote, Inner Mongolia and was the first domestic race meeting to list graded stakes events as part of their program.
North Dakota starred once again for the China Horse Club which finished the program with a win, a second and a third over the three stakes races. The striking five-year-old was originally being prepared for a 2400m contest only for the race distance to be brought back to 2000m after acceptances were made. Yet, in another sign of the stallion’s growing adaptability, he was able to overcome such an obstacle and win by a widening margin in the RMB100,000 G2 China Horse Capital Xilanhaote Cup (2000m).
“It was a fantastic effort from North Dakota. He was being set for a 2400m race and the event was brought back to 2000m and he was really strong running right through the line,” trainer Quinton Cassidy said.
“I have to give a lot of praise to Chen Li. We spoke about the race before hand and he rode North Dakota exactly as I wanted. We spoke about taking up a position early in the race, creeping forward down the back straight, keeping North Dakota rolling around the home corner and then waiting until he was balanced up in the straight to ask him for his final effort. He did just that and the result was there for all to see. A fantastic ride and a great win for the club.”
Manus
Stablemate Manus may have been unlucky not to have added further success when barrier attendances allowed the start of the RMB500,000 CHIA Cup (1650m) despite him clearly being in the air after rearing. Jockey Chen Li showed great maturity to slowly bring Manus back into the contest after missing the start by eight to 10 lengths and turning into the straight Manus loomed as a winning chance when pressing for the lead. However, honours went to Mr Fenzhiguo whose runner Street Pilot chartered a course down the outside fence.
“All credit to Mr Fenzhiguo, he has a fantastic racehorse and it is no shame finishing second to him. It is also wonderful to see a big race like this won by a Chinese bred thoroughbred. Hopefully it inspires the industry at larger,” said Eden Harrington, General Manager of the China Horse Club.
“As a club we are immensely proud of the effort of Manus and Chen Li. To my eye it was the ride of the day and the performance of Manus shows that he and the rest of our team is right on track for next month’s Minority Games. Quinton [Cassidy] has the team ticking over well and this weekend will no doubt spur the team on with the Minority Games in mind.
“A great deal of credit should also be given to CHIA for showing the initiative to create an event like this and to compete for quality prize money. Racing in China will only grow with the addition of new events like this and we are delighted to be among those supporting this initiative. Hopefully businesses and the wider media will see the value in supporting important domestic events like this.”
Flaming Aura(No 9)
CHC’s final runner, Flaming Aura, finished a creditable third in the RMB100,000 China Horse Capital Xilinhaote Cup (1000m) after being wide through from her outside gate.
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Mr. Eden HARRINGTON eden@chinahorseclub.com (Hp no : +65 93769968)
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