A RARE VISIT TO KILCOY PAYS DIVIDENDS FOR THE DAVID VANDYKE STABLE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, August 27, 2022

It was a rare visit to Kilcoy for the David Vandyke stable on August 27, but the strategy was spot on as Sir Gunsen claimed his first win in five starts since transferring to the Vandyke stable … and his third career win overall.

The race was a Class 2 Handicap over 1900m (the Vietnam Veterans Cup), which meant that Sir Gunsen was coming back in distance from the 2150m of his first-up run in which he finished third at Ipswich three weeks earlier.

Sir Gunsen didn’t quite win as comfortably as the $1.80 started price suggested he would ($8 was the next best price on offer), but the old saying, ‘it doesn’t matter how much you win by’ applied here as the son of So You Think got home by 0.20 lengths.

Jockey Matthew Powell settled the six-year-old in third spot shortly after the break and held that position before pushing forward to take to take up a narrow lead approaching the 800m mark.

Powell went to work a little bit harder on Sir Gunsen in the sweep to the home turn, where he was able to finally cross to the rail and extend his lead.

On straightening, that lead was just under two lengths, but, while the majority of the field began to fall away behind him, Sir Gunsen still had to put in an effort all of the way down the home straight to secure the win as the $8 chance Dunoon came out of the pack with a spirited late challenge which saw him close ground late to close to Sir Gunsen, who wouldn’t have wanted the race to be any further.

Sir Gunsen has now recorded a win, second place, a third place, a fourth place and a fifth place finish in his five runs for the Vandyke stable … with an overall career record of three wins and seven minor place finishes from twenty-seven career starts.

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