Caulfield Cup winner Kingswood held off Juja Kibo by the barest margin in Saturday's Group 2 Zipping Classic at Sandown. He now heads to the Hong Kong Vase in December.
Kingswood has joined a very small club. The Gavin Bedggood-trained stayer, ridden by John Allen, won Saturday's Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) at Sandown. He added it to his Caulfield Cup win earlier in the spring, a double that has not been done since Bunratty Castle in 1968.
A finish that went right to the wire
Kingswood started at $3.80 and had to dig deep on the heavy track. He held on by a short half-head from Ciaron Maher's Juja Kibo ($4.60), who finished third in the Melbourne Cup a week and a half earlier. The Irish raider Small Fry ($3.50), trained by Joseph O'Brien, was another half-neck away in third.
- 1st: Kingswood (John Allen, trainer Gavin Bedggood) $3.80
- 2nd: Juja Kibo $4.60
- 3rd: Small Fry $3.50
Off to Hong Kong
Bedggood confirmed that Kingswood will now go to the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase (2400m) at Sha Tin on 13 December. The stayer is due to fly out on 30 November. That gives him almost two weeks to settle in, with a solid gallop planned once he arrives. It will be Allen's first trip to Hong Kong.
A spring to remember
Kingswood is a British-bred son of Roaring Lion. He built up to the Caulfield Cup through the Listed Heatherlie Handicap, then ran fourth in both the Underwood Stakes and the Caulfield Stakes. Saturday's win in a weight-for-age race showed he is more than a handicap horse.
The punting angle
Juja Kibo's run is the one to note from an Australian point of view. Running a close second so soon after a big effort in the Cup suggests he has come through the spring in good shape. He is a stayer to follow into the autumn. For Kingswood, the Vase usually draws strong European and Japanese stayers, so how he travels and settles will matter as much as his Australian form.