'The racecourse should be embarrassed' - Dods blasts prize-money after win

Friday: Doncaster

Michael Dods branded the prize-money "an embarrassment" after classy sprinter Dakota Gold landed the £20,000 Class 2 6f handicap.

The eight-year-old, a Group 3 winner who has also scored five times in Listed company, added just £10,308 to his career earnings of £434,000 by rallying to short-head Asjad under Connor Beasley in a contest in which half the six-runner field had a BHA rating of 100 or higher.

It was Dakota Gold's 15th victory in 55 starts and Dods said: "It's great for him to be winning but let's be fair, for a 0-105 the prize-money is an embarrassment.

"It's the same with all the racing today, in the two-year-old maidens the winner is getting £2,900. The racecourse should be embarrassed. That was a £20,000 handicap for a 100-rated horse. Dakota Gold is a Listed horse."

Dakota Gold: fought back to score his 15th successCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The race was run in a downpour, in conditions that were already testing, and Dods added: "He loved the ground. He got headed and he fought back and he's still got that enthusiasm for it.

"He's tremendous. He's not as good as he was, you don't expect them to be, but he can still race to a good level. Although there were only six runners, they were six good horses and he showed a good attitude."

Sister act earns Classic quote

Sluicing through the autumn mud at Doncaster is very different to bouncing off the summer turf at Epsom, but Soul Sister earned a 40-1 quote for the Oaks from Paddy Power after making a successful debut under Robert Havlin.

Lady Bamford's home-bred daughter of Frankel did well to collar the twice-raced Doom close home, in division two of the 1m maiden.

Joint-trainer Thady Gosden said: "The second kicked and our filly had every right to be green first time out, she was slightly waiting for the other one a bit, but Rab [Havlin, jockey] gave her a flick and she picked up nicely enough.

"She's obviously bred to be a middle-distance filly next year, we'll put her away now and you can see her staying a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half next year.

"She shows a nice level of ability at home, she's by Frankel who can't do much wrong at the moment, and her dam Dream Peace is a good mare so we hope she can go on next year."

Marco Botti is also keen on 7f maiden winner Legend Of Leros and said: "We always thought he was a nice horse, he's big and scopey. He didn't mind the ground today and he could be a horse with a future."

Heavy going

A downpour on the eve of racing turned the ground officially soft, heavy in places, before another 5mm fell midway through the afternoon, making it heavy everywhere.

Around a fifth of the 85 originally declared runners were withdrawn and clerk of the course Paul Barker said: "The ground was good to soft when horses were declared for today's racing, but we had 26mm of rain yesterday.

"We were expecting up to 10mm but it just kept raining."

Replays, results and analysis

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