Gold-Fun (Ire) (Le Vie Dei Colori {GB}), Hong Kong's hope for Saturday's G1 Golden Jubilee S., is reported to have taken the travel over to England without hassle and has settled in nicely at Abingdon Place Stables in a box not far from fellow King's Stand aspirant Mongolian Saturday (Any Given Saturday).
“It's all good, all lights are green,” commented English ex-pat trainer Richard Gibson. “The horse has settled in well, he's eaten up well and his bodyweight is good. It's been straightforward so far and we're happy with the way he is.”
After being kept to an easy trot Sunday following his mid-day arrival Saturday, the flashy chestnut cantered Monday morning beneath his regular partner Eric Gandon. The latter, who has been with Gibson dating back to the days of Doctor Dino (Fr) (Mutathir {GB}) a decade ago, observed that Gold-Fun moved better over the synthetic Ecotrack installed at Bury Hill not far from Abingdon Place than he does over the Sha Tin all-weather.
Having trialled prior to leaving Hong Kong, Gold-Fun will be asked no serious questions leading up to Saturday's race.
“He's a fit horse and we'll go easy with him,” Gibson confirmed.
Winner of last year's G2 Jockey Club Sprint and runner-up in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint, Gold-Fun will try to become the third Hong Kong-based horse to win the closing-day feature. Cape of Good Hope (GB) (Inchinor {GB}) took the event, then known as the Diamond Jubilee S., in 2005 when the Royal meeting was held at York. Little Bridge (NZ) (Faltaat) landed the 2012 renewal.
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