30th Aug Cape Breeders report:
Drakenstein Stud’s well performed young stallion Gold Standard made an eye catching start with his first two year old runners last season.
The son of Drakenstein’s evergreen champion sire Trippi ended 2021-2022 responsible for five two-year-old winners, from 17 runners, with Gold Standard’s early winners headed by the likes of Hold My Hand and Golden Hostess.
Hold My Hand made a particuarly bright start to her racing career, with that Gold Standard filly following up a close second on debut with an impressive win at Hollywoodbets Greyville. She signed off for her two-year-old campaign when finishing a close up fourth, beaten just over half a length by subsequent Equus Champion Canadian Summer, in the G1 Thekwini Stakes.
Gold Standard has made an encouraging start to the new season, with the former G2 Selangor Cup winner and G1 Cape Guineas runner up sire of an extremely exciting prospect in the form of Gold Poker Game.
The latter, who ran third over 1000m on debut, made a big impression when getting off the mark at Kenilworth earlier this month, with Gold Poker Game, a big scopey filly herself, sauntering home to score by three-parts of a length over 1200m.
Gold Poker Queen, Golden Hostess and Hold My Hand are all potential Fillies Guineas starters -which represents an impressive start for their exciting young sire.
John Freeman, who has taken over the marketing and managing of Gold Standard, had the following to say about the son of Trippi. “Gold Standard is very fertile, covers well and he is a very happy horse. He suits a variety of mares. I have been doing test matings for clients and note that he makes a good match for Dynasty mares on paper. And with his impeccable hind leg he will help fix that Sadlers Wells hind leg. Breeders also shouldn’t be scared to send him a small mare. There are so few stallions that help small mares nowadays.”
Out of a daughter of legendary champion Olympic Duel and from the same female line as successful stallions Persian Gulf and Precipitation , Gold Standard is set to stand the 2022 season for a fee of R7 500.
