Denton Hall News

Unbeaten Arapaho Gold glitters in the Gimcrack at York

ARAPAHO Gold is the toast of the north after retaining his unbeaten record by landing the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Gimcrack Stakes at the York Festival today.

The star two-year-old is now unbeaten in four races, with trainer Michael Dods, saying: “He’s some horse.”

Arapaho Gold, superbly ridden by Connor Beasley, showed a tremendous attitude to beat a class field, with Final Objective in second and Hell of A Spin third.

The son of Bayside Boy is now being aimed at the Mill Reef Stakes, another Group 2, at Newbury next month.

Dods, who trains at Denton, near Darlington, is no stranger to big race success at York, having won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes back-to-back with Mecca’s Angel.

He now has charge of one of the country’s leading two-year-olds in Arapaho Gold, owned by Darlington businessman Doug Graham.

Dods said: “Words can’t say what we feel. It’s brilliant. Great ride, tough horse – you can’t knock him. I think Connor would have liked to go a bit sooner but he’s shown great ability. He’s some horse.

“He’s unbelievable. I think he’ll improve and get another furlong. He’s just very exciting. The Mill Reef will probably be his next run.”

Connor Beasley added: “He’s one of them – he’s improved with each run and he’s one of the nicest I’ve sat on on English soil.

“He takes everything in his stride and he was a totally different horse today from his last run. He switched off lovely and travelled nicely. He took a couple of strides to hit his full stride but once he hit top gear he gave me a nice feel. When he fills his frame – that’s when we’ll really see how good he is.”