Gold Luck wins on debut in France

When a great champion’s half-sister by a multiple champion sire makes her debut, expectations are naturally high.

2YO filly Gold Luck proved up to the task of meeting them when she won the Prix Tenebreuse over 1600 metres at Maisons-Laffitte in France on Monday.

Watch Gold Luck win at Maisons-Laffitte (courtesy of Thoroughbred Daily News).

It was a tidy performance by Gold Luck who is trained by Freddy Head for her breeders, Alain & Gerard Wertheimer.

Maxime Guyon settled the filly in third position, where she raced comfortably until asked to to extend in the final stages. She respnded generously to catch Ifiandra in the final 50 metres and score by a head, with Orerry 2.5 lengths back in third.

Head said, “I’m very happy with her. She wasn’t fully tuned-up today and I think she can make plenty of progress from this.

“Next year will be for her and we’ll leave her through the winter now in the hope she turns into a good filly. She handled herself very well and it looked a nice race. The runner-up pushed her hard at the end and overall they looked a nice bunch.”

Gold Luck is the 13th winner out of the remarkable broodmare Born Gold (by Blushing Groom), celebrated as the dam of five Group winners, chief among them Goldikova whose 17 wins included 14 at Group 1 level, notably three Breeders’ Cup Mile victories.

Redoute’s Choice has now notched up six winners from the first of two crops conceived during his stint at HH the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval. His other successful 2YOs in Europe this season are the colts Celestial Spheres and Colibri, and the fillies Deep Inside, Greshnitsia & Kazaroza.

Meanwhile, as the new season gains pace in Australia, the champion sire and his sons Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt have already compiled 11 stakeswinners and almost $4 million prizemoney. Snitzel heads the current General Sires’ list with Redoute’s Choice 7th and Not A Single Doubt eighth.