The perennial bridesmaid Gothic registered his first win in over two years when Aldo Domeyer got the son of Silvano’s head down in the last stride to clinch a grandstand victory in the R150 000 Listed Kenilworth Cup run over the marathon trip of 3200m on Saturday.
Aldo Domeyer drives Gothic through on the inside of Parachute Man (Greg Cheyne) to win the 3200m feature (Pic – Wayne Marks)
Such was the closeness of the tussle that the experienced Greg Cheyne was celebrating victory two strides after the post – after he had actually been beaten a whisker on the handily weighted Parachute Man, who had made much of the pace in a slow-run affair.
The race lacked genuine depth (and a Joey Ramsden runner, come to think of it) as is the norm in the Cape staying ranks, But what it came up short for in terms of champion material, it made up for as an entertainment spectacle, with the closest finish of the day.
With the Cape Crawl coming into play early, Greg Cheyne took Parachute Man out to dictate matters ahead of his fellow bottomweights, Mambo Square and Belcourt Castle.
But Domeyer made his strategic match-winning move on the far turn when he looped his field to chase Parachute Man into the winter home straight.
Greg Cheyne looked to have something in reserve as Parachute Man continued to run strongly – and when Gothic came alongside him at the 250m mark it was race on.
With neither giving an inch, the two went for the line as one horse, with Cheyne’s body language suggesting a celebration.
But the photo showed that the Vaughan Marshall-trained Gothic had got the verdict by a short head. Gothic went off at 5 to1 and registered a winning time of 208,40 secs.
Going for five in a row, the fancied Ovidio found this a bridge too far but stayed on gamely for third.
Aldo Domeyer – great ride and a narrow win
Winning jockey Aldo Domeyer is in a rich vein of form and rode a great race.
“I thought I got it but then I saw Greg (Cheyne) celebrating. So I waited for the judge’s decision. I’m glad it went our way as my horse never gave up,” he said.
Gothic took his career earnings to R754 550 when scoring his third win with 12 places from 30 starts.
Bred by the UK-based Judy Brannigan, Gothic is a 6yo gelded son of Silvano out of the twice winning Badger Land mare, Mysterious Land. His half-brother Tandragee (by Bezrin0, was a beaten favourite in Mauritius an hour earlier.
A Gr1 SA Derby runner-up of his year, Gothic was purchased for R700 000 by Dylan Chinsammy at the 2011 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.
Gothic has been around the block a few times and had his fair share of trainers. Now that he has found his confidence and is racing off a more realistic handicap mark, he could pay to follow over this kind of ground.
