'Old man's ride' Gold Medal takes first place again for Richard Hughes

Friday: Lingfield

Gold Medal, described as an "old man's ride at home", made the most of a drop back in class to land a second win in three starts for Richard Hughes.

The three-year-old kicked off the bend under Ryan Moore to win the 6f novice by two-and-a-quarter lengths from the Robyn Brisland-trained Carpe Fortuna.

Hughes said: “I was very impressed. Any horse that wins with a penalty has to be good. He just got bogged down in the ground in the Listed race last year, so it will do his confidence good to come back and win today."

Hughes knows Gold Medal's sire Olympic Glory well, having won six times on him as a jockey, including two Group 1 victories, and he added: “He's by Olympic Glory, who wasn’t setting the world alight at the time, but I loved him as an individual, so you’ve got to take a chance.

“He doesn't do anything flashy at home which means he’s hard to gauge. He looked like a different horse on the track than what I rode the other morning. He’s an old man's ride at home!”

Hughes is still unsure about whether or not to stay sprinting or up him in distance but is looking “for something on the all-weather in three weeks' time”.

Incident packed

The 1m5f handicap was declared void after the Ian Williams-trained Cherokee Dance sustained an injury on the first circuit.

It followed a lengthy stewards' inquiry into the previous race, which saw the James Tate-trained Ocean Ruler, who was first past the post, demoted to third for causing interference. Homeric was named the winner.

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