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Ghost Party wins St. Joel Handicap at Sandown!
Ghost Party captured the 1,200-metre St. Joel Handicap at Sandown Race Track on Wednesday. The victory was his very first win in two years, and that helped to keep his horse racing career afloat.
Ghost Party's trainer Gary Carson had earlier instructed his son, jockey Michael Carson, that the plan was to place Ghost Party at the back of the pack and make a move toward the end of the race.
But Michael defied the agreed strategy and took Ghost Party straight to the front on the slow course at Sandown Race Track.
Ghost Party managed to repel Best Pupil's late challenge to eventually win by a neck. The Sandown Race Track win was Ghost Party's 13th victory in 83 starts.
"I was going to kick his backside if he had got beaten," the elder Carson said, referring to his son's decision to break away from the riding tactics.
"It just goes to show the horse has still got it there if he gets the right tracks.
"He needed to win and now that he has it has certainly prolonged his career."
Ghost Party's win on Wednesday was on the relatively wet ground at Sandown Race Track. All of his wins have been on wet surfaces, 10 of which have been on heavy courses and three on slow courses.
Trainer Carson said he was at his wits' end trying to find rain-affected ground for Ghost Party and was ready to bring the curtain down on his career because of the drought.
"We haven't had a wet track for two years," Carson said.
"We have been putting him in and out of work continually waiting for the wet tracks but they never came.
"I thought `we will just give it one more go', but this was probably going to be his last run depending on how he went today."
"I didn't think it was quite wet enough today but the company wasn't that strong," Carson said. |
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