Winning Horse: Gold Spark (AUS)

5yoG Akeed Mofeed (GB) - Vintage Salon (Aus)(Royal Academy (USA))

11 starts - 4 wins 1 second 1 fourth $115850

Other Wins

1st Bendigo Drake International (Bm64) 1100m (2021)

1st Sale John Elliman Real Estate-Bm64 1106m (2020)

1st Sale Gbg Concrete&Construction Mdn 1400m (2019)

Other Placings

2nd Moonee Valley Ladbrokes 55Sec Challenge-Bm70 955m (2020)

Race Result:

1st: Gold Spark (N Ryan/F Kersley) - $12

2nd: Zorro’s Dream (M Freedman/W Price) - $3.50
3rd: La Bella Costa (M Laurie/B Mertens) - $19

Winning Time: 1:03.9 Last 600m: N/A

Margins: ½ Head x 1L

Winning Trainer: Nick Ryan

“Terrific ride by Freddy. Patient and rode him a treat. I was a little bit worried pre-race, he got a bit stirred up and a bit hot.

“They went very hard up front, he saved ground and got there late.

“I’d wound him up for today. He’d had three or four jump outs and he’s worked well but he just hadn’t run for so long. We were mindful of that but he was aided with a very good ride. He got the tempo up front and he got over the top of them.

“I thought the race was set up for him but he saved ground on the turn and let down with a good run. I think he’ll improve off today because he was very fresh before the run. There’s a nice race for him at Flemington.”

On Jamie Kah: “It’s good for Jamie that she’s got it out of the way early today because there was a lto of build up but it’s great for the game.”

Winning Jockey: Fred Kersley

His ride: “It wasn’t bad, was it. He began nicely enough for me. The tempo was certainly red hot so he found a lovely rhythm, he tracked into it well enough.

“I thought I was taking a bit of a gamble by going in but thankfully I had the horse underneath me and the runs came.

“When you’ve got a horse going pretty well underneath you sometimes you can barge your way back but thankfully the runs did open and tactically it all worked out beautifully and good to see him first-up today.

“The Ryan camp can certainly get them going first-up.

Recent success: “I’ve been fortunate since my hiccup a few months back. I’ve never been fitter and working my backside off so it’s nice to get some nice rides.”