Following his best-ever National Hunt season with a top 20 finish in the stallion table and a 38 per cent strike-rate, Golden Horn is also still supplying major winners on the Flat, and perhaps no horse better sums up his versatility than East India Dock.
A dual Grade 2 winner over hurdles at Cheltenham through the winter followed by a third-place finish in the G1 Triumph Hurdle (won by Golden Horn’s son Poniros), East India Dock made a triumphant return to the Flat when winning the hugely competitive Chester Cup under Harry Davies.
Trained for his breeders Bill and Tim Gredley by James Owen, the four-year-old is now being aimed at the Ascot Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot to attempt to add to his earnings of almost £250,000.
He was the second winner of Chester’s May meeting for Golden Horn after Paddy The Squire, who was bred by Cheveley Park Stud and, like East India Dock, is out of a mare by Galileo.
This week at York, Golden Horn’s multiple stakes-placed daughter Karmology lines up in the G2 Middleton Stakes for Karl Burke and owner-breeders David and Yvonne Blunt, while other high-profile entries in the coming weeks include Higher Leaves in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and Trawlerman in the G1 Gold Cup at Ascot.
