Bridge Of Gold

Bridge Of Gold ran a cracker to finish third in the Ebor, on what was only his sixth ever run and his first try at the distance. He raced up with the pace throughout, which was a really fast one, all the other principals, the winner Dirar, as well as Rosika, Salute Him, and Ajaan, who filled the other minor places, all came from off the pace, while the other horses who raced prominently from the start faded quite badly. Bridge Of Gold was the exception, he was still bang there at the three-furlong pole and he was in front at the two-furlong pole, before he eventually gave way to Rosika and Dirar inside the final furlong, the three of them finishing clear of the rest.

This was a cracking run for a horse of such little experience. Also, it was his first attempt at a distance in excess of 11 furlongs, the step up in trip probably bringing about significant improvement.

This was a good Ebor, it was truly-run, the time was nearly a second faster than standard and it was the only one to dip below standard on the day. It was Bridge Of Gold’s first start since he returned from Dubai – he was reported to have a virus, which kept him out for a while. He has gone well fresh in the past, but he should progress from this experience.

He is not a fashionable horse, trained by a relatively small-time trainer in Mikael Magnusson and he may remain under the radar a little. Magnusson said after the race that the son of Giant’s Causeway may have wanted a bit more cut in the ground, which bodes well for an autumn campaign in Europe, although the Canadian International is apparently under consideration.

18th August 2010