Whether helped to victory by ducks or not the Len Smith
trained Westace has gone down in the record books as Gold Ace's first stakes winner after
taking the listed Queen Adelaide Stakes at Cheltenham on Saturday.
After an eye catching and fast finishing third on debut after
becoming unbalanced on the turn, Westace made up for the first start defeat by beating a
classy field on the weekend.
It's not surprising that Gold Ace's youngsters have plenty of
speed and are matching it with the best. Gold Ace himself did exactly that as well.
A brilliant sprinter Gold Ace, who is from the top producing
Coup de Feu mare Coup de Chance, was a three time winner at Group One level.
Who could forget his Australian record breaking win in the
Group One Salinger Stakes down the straight six at Flemington, when he stopped the clock
at an incredile one minute 7.5 seconds.
Throw that win in with his others in the Group One The Galaxy
(1100m) in Sydney and the Group One Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Flemington and he would
rank as one of the best modern day sprinters seen in Australia.
A winner of two races from three outings in his initial
preparation at two, Gold Ace a son of Dieu d'Or trained on to win five more races - all at
stakes level in either Melbourne or Sydney.
Gold Ace, who stands at Ealing Park near Euroa in Victoria,
was already the sire of five winners before Westace took the Queen Adelaide Stakes.
In fact 24 of Gold Ace's 34 runners so far have earned their
connections prizemoney and promise to be like their sire and improve with maturity.
Coup de Chance, Gold Ace's dam, is also the dam of Group One
winner Final Card, himself an accomplished and underrated sire, and Moomba Plate winner
Pepite D'or. She is also the dam of stakes performers Chemin de Fer and Dharapani.
Dieu d'Or, a winner of thye Hall Mark Stakes in Sydney and
runner up in the Goodwood Handicap in Adelaide, has been represented by other high class
gallopers including the record breaking Oaks and Derby winner Voile d'Or and the shock
Mercedes Classic winner Curata Storm.
With plenty more of his youngsters expected to improve as
they turn three and four there is little doubt we haven't seen the best of Gold Ace yet!
PIC - Jenny
Barnes |
