A STUNNING RETURN TO ACTION FOR GYPSY GODDESS

By Graham Potter | Saturday, March 12, 2022

The unbeaten Gypsy Goddess currently sits at the top of the betting boards for the Group 1 Australian Oaks which will be contested over 2400m at Randwick on April 9.

It is exciting times for trainer David Vandyke … and also for jockey Willie Pike, who has been booked to ride Gypsy Goddess when Vandyke moves her campaign south to test the big race waters in Sydney where she is likely to first to tackle the $600 000 Group 1 Vinery Stakes over 2000m on March 26 before lining up for the Australian Oaks where she is currently quoted as the $6 favourite.

“We’ll probably go down to Sydney at the end of the week for the Vinery … and, two weeks later, we can’t wait for that Australian Oaks.

“No surprise that she is the Oaks favourite after that run,” said Vandyke.

The New Zealand bred daughter of Tarzino simply embarrassed her opposition in her latest success at Eagle Farm on Saturday in a QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap over 1600m when claiming her fifth successive win … and the arrogance with which Gypsy Goddess dismissed any suggestion that there might be some chink in her armour as she kicked off her second preparation was jaw dropping

“That was an amazing effort … when you think that she had top weight … first-up … a mile … Eagle Farm. Did she get tired? I don’t think she got warmed up,” said Vandyke.

“She’s got big lungs. She’s got a big heart … and her demeanour is just something else. Before the race, my biggest worry was she was too relaxed. She was falling asleep while we were saddling her up …and, of course, what that does is keep your heart-rate low and her heart-rate was pretty low the whole time.”

Apprentice Kyle Wilson-Taylor, who has ridden Gypsy Goddess in exemplary fashion in two of her wins, was almost lost for words when describing the run.

“I’ve ridden a good one in Incentivise before, but she’s pretty good,” said Wilson-Taylor. “I haven’t had a feel like that before. It’s unreal. I’m a bit speechless.

“I just had to let her go through her gears but, once I asked her, she just exploded. It’s very exciting.

“It’s like she has been out there more times than I have. She knew what she was doing!”

While travelling to an ‘away’ game and the step up to Group 1 company will represent an entirely new challenge, Gypsy Goddess has comfortably cleared the bar to date in every test she has been set.

Remember, this is the horse that went from Maiden winner, to a BM65 winner, to an Eagle Way feature Quality winner, to a Group 3 winner in the Grand Prix … all in just four starts … all in only her first preparation.

The fact that she has kicked off her second preparation by picking up exactly where she left off the first has got bookmakers and racing enthusiasts justifiably showing Gypsy Goddess every respect moving forward as she looks to make her mark on the very big stage that is ‘The Championships’ in Sydney.

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