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Murray Bell

Ample Gains loses  nothing in defeat

New Ready To Win stable recruit Ample Gains ran a smashing race last week, at his first outing for the team, to finish second behind progressive Very Fit over 1,600 metres in Class Three company at Sha Tin.

This pair of southern hemisphere-bred three-year-olds were just too good for their older peers and moved away to fight the race out, as the punters  thought they would.

Ample Gains, a well-bred son of Danehill, was having only his third  outing but knuckled down to the task in brave manner over the final 250 metres. The winner, a Woodman half-brother to champion Silent Witness, was a shade too good on the day but Ample Gains lost very little by comparison.

Although running second is never quite the same as winning, this performance completely justified Ample Gains' elevation to the Ready To Win Stable and easily earned his right to be retained.

Stable News

It looks like a fairly quiet week for the Ready To Win Stable but we can expect some additional action at the Chinese New Year meeting next Friday.

Although two of our members, Zabebe and Lightning Star have not been racing recently, their respective trainers (John Size and Caspar Fownes) have them both in full work and their return to competition should happen soon.

Brilliant young sprinter Captain Happy turned in a cracking gallop on January 27, beating stablemate Classic Navigator over 400 metres in 21.8 seconds.

Classic Navigator came out and finished second at Sha Tin last weekend, so the form from the gallop was certainly OK.

Captain Happy is a member of the all-conquering Tony Cruz yard and his two-from-two record shows that he is way above average.

In fact, it will take a very good galloper to stop him making if three from three next time out.

Yellow Diamond turned in a strong piece of work down the back straight on Monday. Trainer Alex Wong Yu-on ordered the gelding to zip over the straight 800 metres on turf and, with Olivier Doleuze on board, put the task behind him in no-nonsense fashion.

Today's Runner:

WEALTHY (race 10, No 2): Trainer Dennis Yip has looked after Wealthy since his impressive win on January 8. Giving this well-bred son of Danehill one run every four weeks is perfect training for his constitution, which probably would not take a regime much stronger than this.

Wealthy probably throws to his maternal grandsire Kenmare in this regard because he is much more elegant and lighter of bone than the usual garden-variety Danehill. But there's no denying the fact that he is a very smart galloper.

Today at Sha Tin, Wealthy has drawn barrier seven in a field of 14 and will again be ridden by Yip's retained stable jockey Eric Saint-Martin.

Full Stable:

Ample Gains, Captain Happy, Five Grains, Grand Zulu, Gold Striker, Hail The Storm, Lightning Star, Lucky Guys, Thousand Wins, Wealthy, Yellow Diamond, Zabebe. (Total 12).



The ready to win stable