New Zealand-bred gelding Gunga Din (NZ) (Shamexpress) has relished a hot tempo to street his Highway Handicap rivals and pull off another training coup for veteran horseman Keith Dryden.
Jockey Nash Rawiller settled Gunga Din ($3.90 fav) midfield and the four-year-old quickly gathered in his rivals on straightening to score a runaway four-length win.
Rostam (Hat Trick) did best of the chasers to grab second.
Dryden did not make the trip to Rosehill but Louis Mihalyka, syndicate manager for Laurel Oak Bloodstock, said the victory by Gunga Din was the icing on the cake after winning The Kosciuszko in the spring with Handle The Truth (Star Witness).
“Fantastic. It has been a great year and that has capped it off,” Mihalyka said.
“When the pace was on we knew that would suit us.
“We were drawn a bit wide but Nash was patient and it worked out brilliantly.
“The plan was today so we will see what happens now.”
Gunga Din was purchased by Laurel Oak Bloodstock out of Windsor Park Stud’s 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale yearling draft for $90,000.
