Summer Cup quinella Montauk and Red Excitement are set to clash again at Gosford on Thursday in the Listed $150,000 Gosford Quarries Gold Cup (2100m).
Montauk, above in green colours, and Red Excitement on his inside, fight out the finish of the 2017 Summer Cup at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
The Chris Waller trained Montauk scrambled home to beat Red Excitement by a head in the Group 3 $150,000 Summer Cup (2000m) at Randwick on December 26 and the two geldings will get the chance to fight out the finish again in the ten horse Gosford Gold Cup field.
Montauk will carry 57.5kg, up 4.5kg on his Summer Cup win and drew nicely at barrier three with Matthew Cahill retaining the ride while Red Excitement, with Brenton Avdulla to ride again, will only go up 3kg to 60.5kg and jump from gate eight.
Trainer Gerald Ryan returned to his Rosehill base on Monday after a week at the Gold Coast for the Magic Millions Carnival and Yearling Sales, and was pleased with the condition of Red Excitement.
“I hadn’t seen him for eight days and he looks terrific,” Ryan told AAP.
“He’s really well in himself. It’s a big weight to carry but what you’d expect.”
Red Excitement is chasing back to back wins in the Gosford Gold Cup but hasn’t been in the winner’s stall since beating Sense Of Occasion is last year’s version.
The Excites eight year old did hit the headlines during the 2017 Sydney Spring Carnival when Josh Parr produced an electrifying front running ride in the Group 2 $250,000 Tattersalls Club Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick that put a scare through the Australian racing public when he appeared to have super mare Winx struggling to stay in touch coming to the home turn.
The thought of Winx’s winning run coming to end was a real possibility but the champion mare lifted in the straight for jockey Hugh Bowman to claim the lead and score a one lengths win over Red Excitement.
Waller will also saddle up last start Randwick BenchMark 83 Handicap winner Hogmanay who has drawn in the middle of the pack at six with Christian Reith booked to ride.
The Joe Pride trained Destiny’s Kiss will carry the top weight of 61kg in the Gosford Gold Cup but will get some relief after drawing the pole position with Melbourne Cup winning jockey Corey Brown in the saddle.
Imported French stayer Singing from the Kris Lees stable is chasing a hat trick of wins following two impressive front running displays over 2000m and 2200m at Doomben but will have to overcome barrier nine with Glyn Schofield taking over the reins from Jeff Lloyd.
Final field the 2018 Gosford Gold Cup (2100m)
| # | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3415041073 | DESTINY’S KISS | Joseph Pride | Corey Brown | 1 | 61kg | 107 |
| 2 | x427805372 | RED EXCITEMENT | Gerald Ryan | Brenton Avdulla | 8 | 60.5kg | 106 |
| 3 | 4×72274444 | MIGHTY LUCKY | Fred Cowell | Chris O’Brien | 5 | 57.5kg | 100 |
| 4 | 454323×731 | MONTAUK | Chris Waller | Mathew Cahill | 3 | 57.5kg | 100 |
| 5 | 8x01784x85 | DEE I CEE (NZ) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Ms Rachel King (a) | 7 | 55.5kg | 96 |
| 6 | 7x090x5611 | SINGING (FR) | Kris Lees | Glyn Schofield | 9 | 55.5kg | 96 |
| 7 | 0x667100x0 | SLOW PACE (USA) | Kris Lees | – | 4 | 54kg | 92 |
| 8 | x262433561 | HOGMANAY | Chris Waller | Christian Reith | 6 | 54kg | 84 |
| 9 | 49448×9516 | PARAGON | John Sargent | Tim Clark | 2 | 54kg | 73 |
| 10 | 3270481231 | EVANGELIST (GB) | Lea Selby | Ms Chelsea Ings (a) | 10 | 54kg | 71 |