Talented galloper Governor King bounced back to form with a gritty win on his home track at Ballarat. The gelded son of Fiorente edged out stablemate Moscow Red in a ding-dong battle up the straight, the photo judge eventually awarding Governor King his third career win at start number thirteen.
Jockey Declan Bates settled in the second half of the field from the mile chute, working into the race around runners on the home end before straightening up in the middle of the track. Moscow Red had cut the corner and pinched a break on the field, as Governor King began to lengthen and looked all over the winner when he levelled up at the 100-metre mark. Bates had a real fight on his hands in the closing stages, and despite carrying 4.5kg more than his rival, was able to will his galloper to the line for a narrow victory. The pair left over four lengths to the rest of the field, Bates of the opinion his galloper did only what he had to in securing the win.
“I quickened like I was going to go on and win by a length, but I had to keep him up to his work and felt like I had loads in hand. Plenty in the tank”.
Henry was pleased to see his galloper return to form, certain that his previous start at Geelong was simply a day to forget.
“He’s obviously going well and last start was an aberration which we thought it was”, Henry said post-race.
“Good to get another win on the board with him and hopefully he can go on with it”.
The win was Governor King’s third from thirteen starts, all on rain-affected going, and with substantial rain forecast in the coming weeks it will be no surprise to see him feature in the Winner’s Stall again before long.