Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Imbongi seals World Cup night berth

IMBONGI, who missed by a nostril in the Al Fahidi Fort (Gr 2) last month, came out on the winning side of a close finish in last Friday’s $250,000 Zabeel Mile (Gr 2) at Meydan. Although that turf contest was the highlight of the evening, the programme also featured the inaugural Meydan Masters international jockey challenge, won by Englishman Richard Hills.
In the opening stages of the Zabeel Mile, the Mike de Kock-trained Imbongi was reserved well off the pace by Christophe Soumillon. An early duel developed between Yasoodd and Dunelight and the two continued to match strides into the stretch. Yasoodd was the first to give way, but by that time, Dunelight was himself besieged by a host of closers. Stuck behind this wall of horses was, the mount of Hills, who had nowhere to go at a crucial stage.
Imbongi, on the other hand, avoided the traffic jam in midstretch. With Soumillon darting to the rail, he slipped through to the inside of Dunelight and struck the front. Meanwhile, Kalahari Gold found clear sailing widest of all, and came storming down the centre of the course. It was shades of the Al Fahidi Fort all over again, as Kalahari Gold threatened to imitate Bankable’s heroics of two weeks ago and nail Imbongi at the wire. But Kalahari Gold was not quite Bankable, and the Zabeel Mile was not to follow the same script. Imbongi lunged for the line, and won with about a neck to spare. The classy South African negotiated the mile in 98,6sec on the good-to-firm turf to earn his fifth career stakes victory. “I have to be very pleased with that, as we were concerned about the going being a bit firm,” De Kock admitted. “Hopefully we will go to Dubai World Cup night (March 27) now but we must decide between the Dubai Duty Free (Gr 1) and the Godolphin Mile (Gr 2).”
Imbongi, who has now won group stakes on three continents, boosted his bankroll to $496,970 from a record of 22-7-5-2. The chestnut gelding captured the 2008 Gauteng Guineas (Gr 2), KZN Guineas (Gr 2) and Drill Hall Stakes (Gr 2), and
finished runner-up to champion Dancer’s Daughter in the Gold Challenge (Gr 1). At last year’s Dubai Carnival, he came in fourth in the Al Fahidi Fort and Jebel Hatta (Gr 2). Imbongi then shipped to Hong Kong for the Champions Mile (Gr 1), reporting home sixth in a densely packed finish. He spent the summer in England, where he landed the Criterion Stakes (Gr 3) and checked in third in the Summer Mile Stakes (Gr 2). Bred by Summerhill Stud in South Africa, the six-year-old hails from a productive family. Imbongi’s dam, the Foveros mare Garden Verse, is a full sister to stakes victor and Grade 1-placed Wild Cocktail. She is a half-sister to Dancing Flower (Dancing Champ), the dam of Dubai highweight Victory Moon (Al Mufti). Imbongi’s second dam, Wild Hyacinth (Royal Prerogative), garnered the 1983 Majorca Stakes and placed in the Allan Robertson (Gr 2) and Paddock Stakes (Gr 1). This is the family of champion older mare Imperious Sue (Northern Guest), queen of the 1998 J&B Met (Gr 1), and co-champion colt Turncoat (Folmar). - Bloodstock Journal

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