Trainer Dennis Yip loses stable star Simple
Championship-leading trainer enjoys a double, but his night turns sour with loss of stable star
Dennis Yip Chor-hong kicked another win clear in his championship challenge with a double, but it still turned out to be a sad night for the trainer at Happy Valley when he suffered a cruel blow with the loss of stable star Simple.
Wins to Sea The Pearls and Flying Elite took Yip to 58 wins for the term, and he leads seven-time champion John Size - who had a solitary winner with Ensemble - by four winners with 16 meetings remaining this season.
But after the running of the class two Indian Recreation Club Challenge Cup, Simple, who finished unplaced as favourite, stumbled and fell on returning to the mounting yard and did not recover.
"It's very sad, he was a kind horse, and very consistent," jockey Zac Purton said of the four-time winner. Even the thoughts of Richard Gibson, who combined for a treble with Olivier Doleuze were with Yip's team. "I want to dedicate the win of Vital Gold to Simple and his owners, no one likes to see a horse lost like that," he said.
I want to dedicate the win of Vital Gold to Simple and his owners, no one likes to see a horse lost like that
California Bounty won the feature race to make it two from three, but trainer Tony Cruz said he never expected his horse to get further than last night's race distance of 1,000m. "He is a real fine racehorse, but he is just a short course sprinter," he said.