FOUR-YEAR-OLD Ideal View proved that age is no barrier to success after beating the young and the old to win the 2000m Castle Tankard at Borrowdale Park Racecourse yesterday.
The brown gelding, who has three wins and one placing in his last five races, turned on the heat at the turn to romp home ahead of Dindingwe, Down to Business and Raining Again.
What made his victory sweeter is that the Debra Swanson-trained horse won, beating the likes of seven-year-olds Mr Greenlight, Holy Land, Three To Tango, and eight-year-old Bugatti Blue as well as the young in the form of three-year-old Down to Business.
The win saw Ideal View improve his record to six wins in 15 races with three placings and also sent punters smiling all the way to the bank after closing at 25/1.
Trainer Kirk Swanson said: , “Winning is awesome. All my five horses were special and deserving. I am so grateful to them, myself, and the team,” said Swanson.
In fact, Swanson is one of those who made money out of Ideal View after initially betting for Grand Warrior but had to opt for Ideal View after the scratching of Grand Warrior.
Overwhelming favourite Grand Warrior who opened at 1/1 and Wantage also from the Swanson yard missed the race after a last-minute scratching.
For winning the race, Ideal View got $25 000 for his connections to share. The connections include the owners, trainer, and the jockey.
Ideal View was bred in the USA but is based in South Africa.
Jockey Nathan Klink, who was on Ideal View, played a waiting game allowing Two To Tango, Buggati Blue and Down to Business to take turns to take the lead.
At the turn, Klink asked Ideal View to respond to the leaders’ threat and true to form, the four-year-old galloped his rivals off their hooves.
Klink, who won the OK Grand Challenge in 2022, was over the moon after winning the biggest horse racing event in the land.
“When I came to Zimbabwe in 2022 and won the OK Grand Challenge, I was over the moon. This year, it seems like the whole thing is happening all over again. The horse was comfortable. He never overused himself. He did not give up the fight out there, he just kept on going,” said Klink
He said he was looking forward to winning the OK Grand Challenge which comes in June.
For coming second, Dindingwe won $12 000 while Down to Business was rewarded with $7 000 for coming third with Raining Again in fourth position guaranteed of $4 500.
Defending champion True Beauty from the Thomas Mason stable was also a card-scratching, leaving the race with 12 runners.