Versatile galloper Gigi (NZ) (Ghibellines) took a step up in grade in his stride at Te Rapa on Saturday, while delivering a special milestone for his trainer Jim Pender.
The son of Ghibellines had posted victories on better tracks through the summer, but struck a bottomless surface first-up this preparation at New Plymouth, a performance he was expected to bounce back from.
Starting among the better-backed runners in the Fulton Hogan Mile (1600m), Gigi was eased back into midfield by Joe Doyle to find cover early. The top pick in Diomedes went straight to the lead and controlled the tempo throughout, which slowed and the field compressed near the 600m.
Doyle got off the back of the leaders turning for home and had a task on his hands to chase down Diomedes, but Gigi didn’t give up, digging in for the final 50m to run down the favourite right on the line. Pacheco was just a neck away in third, while a notable run came from staying specialist Canheroc, who closed strongly into fifth.
Pender indicated that Gigi had overcome a hoof issue through the latter part of the autumn, so Saturday’s effort was a particularly pleasing result.
“I thought it was huge,” he said. “He had a stone bruise problem back at the end of April, so we’ve been trying to get that right, then I took him down to New Plymouth and I don’t think many horses would’ve been on a track that deep.
“I was aiming to get him up over ground, but I thought rather than trialling I’d run him in the Open 1600m on Saturday, and his work has steadily gotten better and better.
“I was not confident of winning, being his first time in open company, but I thought he would run quite a good race.
“Joe Doyle gets along very well with him and I leave it over to him, he’s got enough pace to be up near the lead, which is an advantage when they’re running home a bit quicker, he doesn’t have to make up all that ground.
“He just tries so hard and he doesn’t like getting beat.”
Pender is planning on returning to the Waikato venue in a fortnight, but is looking forward to seeing Gigi back on a Good surface when possible.
“I think the better the track, the better he’ll go,” he said. “He’s better on top of the ground, and for a little horse, he’s got quite a big stride.
“He’ll go back to Te Rapa again in two weeks, there’s an Open 2100m, then we’ll try and map out a programme from there.”
The Tauranga horseman was pleasantly surprised to find out that he’d recorded the 300th winner of training career, with 10 of those coming at Group or Listed level.
“I didn’t actually know that at the time, but it was a bit of milestone I suppose,” he said. “It was really enjoyable.”
