Racing
Gold chases maiden win at Flemington
Yamashita’s Gold will chase his maiden victory when he heads to Flemington.
Trainer Gavin Bedggood hopes to get a better appreciation as to the capabilities of Yamashita's Gold when he runs at Flemington.
Yamashita's Gold is down to contest the VRC Member Sarah Hart Trophy (1000m) on Saturday and is bidding to break through for his maiden success.
Bedggood did not hesitate with the son of Wootton Bassett earlier in the year, placing the colt directly into Blue Diamond Stakes contention by running him in the Preview and Prelude at his first two starts.
Yamashita's Gold was not on his best behaviour at his first start, but still ran second to Shining Smile, an opponent on Saturday, before possibly training off when beating only one runner home at his second outing.
"To run as well as he did at his first start after the performance he put on pre-race, I thought he did a really good job," Bedggood said.
"Every time he saw the white pony, he got upset, but he's been no issue since.
"He had shown us really good ability at the jump-outs and at home and he's just got to go to the races now and put it all together."
Yamashita's Gold has been back to the races since his first two starts earlier in the year, finishing fifth in an 1113m maiden at Sale behind Lamassu, also an opponent on Saturday.
That race at Sale did not turn out as Bedggood had hoped, but the trainer was also left to ponder the heavy surface that day.
One thing in Yamashita's Gold's favour on Saturday is the track will not be anywhere near as heavy.
"It was a car crash at Sale," Bedggood said.
"He ran into plenty of luck, and all of it was bad, and the run was inconclusive as well because of the heavy track.
"Jamie Mott galloped him two Tuesday's ago and didn't think he was that effective in it (heavy ground), but Jamie (Melham) galloped him on Tuesday and said he worked a treat and felt great in the ground.
"So, I'm not sure what to think about all that, but you wouldn't think you would be running into heavy ground at Flemington on Saturday.
"It should be ideal, and I would be disappointed if he didn't go there and run well off his work."
Jamie Melham has the mount on Saturday.
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