VERCINGETORIX DOMINATES GOLD MEDALLION

Maine Chance Farms’ impressive young stallion Vercingetorix was the dominant factor in Sunday’s G1 Gold Medallion (1200m), with his sons Ambiorix and Gallic Chief finishing first and third respectively.

Ambiorix, who provided trainer Vaughan Marshall with a second G1 winner in the past nine days following Linebacker landing last weekend’s G1 Daily News 2000, was making his first start at Scottsville and racing for the first time since running second in February 27th’s G3 Cape Of Good Hope Nursery.

Despite this, Ambiorix proved too strong for his field in Sunday’s R400 000 sprint for two-year-olds, while stamping himself as one of the leaders of his generation.

Quick into stride, under Luke Ferraris, Ambiorix was always up with the firing line, as fancied impressive debut Gimme A Prince and hitherto unbeaten G3 winner Good Traveller raced off the pace early on.

Ferraris kept his lightly raced colt going over the closing stages, and the Oldlands bred Ambiorix stayed on to win by nearly a length and a quarter.

Bard Of Avon, a winner of his only other start, shaped up with plenty of promise in finishing second over the notoriously tricky Scottsville track, and that son of Var was another length and a quarter clear of third place finisher Gallic Chief, with Bard Of Avon’s stablemate Captain Lannister finishing fourth.

Winner of the Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes on debut, and a winner of two of just three starts, Ambiorix claimed his biggest win to date in a time of 69.23 seconds.

The Oldlands Stud bredcolt was a R250 000 buy from the 2020 Cape Premier Yearling Sale, and is out of Listed Lady’s Slipper Stakes winner Darling Moon, herself a half-sister to dual G3 winner Astro News.

Race image supplied by: