David Eustace has no intention of tinkering with Winning Diamond after the trainer’s faith in fellow Briton Richard Kingscote delivered the horse his first win at his 18th start at Happy Valley Wednesday night.
“Oh, don’t change anything,” Eustace said when asked where the five-year-old goes next. “There are plenty of Class 5 miles around the Valley, so we’ll target them.”
Kingscote went forward from the widest draw in the Class 5 Cannon Handicap (1,650 meters) and settled outside the early leader, Lucky Blessing, before he kicked again approaching the home turn and stole a break on the field.
Winning Diamond joined Eustace’s stable ahead of the season from Dennis Yip Chor-hong after 13 starts without a top-three finish, a run that had dragged his rating down to 28. Four more outings for his new trainer left the Deep Field gelding on a mark of 24, but he showed signs of a turnaround two starts back when Kingscote steered him into second behind Cheerful Wongchoy over the same course and distance.
“I thought he was unlucky two starts ago with Richard,” Eustace said. “Well, not unlucky, he ran really well over course and distance. He put in a good performance and just missed.”
Eustace then tried Winning Diamond on the all-weather track at Sha Tin last week, where he finished sixth as favorite under Karis Teetan. The trainer saw more in that run than the result suggested.
“I thought his run last week was better than it looked. He never really got full momentum, I felt. It was quite crowded, and he didn’t have a hard run, so I thought the seven days would suit him,” he said.
“It was just a case of whether he could navigate the wide draw, and Richard and the horse executed it beautifully. So it worked out well.”
Eustace has stayed open to another try on the dirt despite last week’s sixth.
“I wouldn’t rule out running him on the dirt again either,” he said. “I think he did handle it, it just didn’t work out.”
Meanwhile, David Hall is ready to mix things up with Brownneedsfurther after the five-year-old’s second win this season lifted him into Class 3.
Zac Purton raced three wide without cover in the Class 4 Gloucester Handicap (1,200m), but Brownneedsfurther was able to lump topweight of 135lb to victory.
“Look, I think it’s pretty brave effort by the horse to carry the weight and cover the extra ground,” Hall said.
Hall waited to secure Purton, who won on the horse back in June. “It wouldn’t have been his first choice, but he’s won on him before,” Hall said. “We were happy to wait for him, and it’s worked out well.”
“I think it might be time now to experiment a little bit more with him, as far as whether he can run the 1,650m or even try 1,400m at Sha Tin,” he said. “I’d like to step him up a little bit in distance.”
