Dvinsky not among top-3 in his 200th start
Veteran colt, Dvinsky finished fourth in his 200th career start, held at Kempton on Wednesday, February 7. The six-furlong race was organised in Dvinsky’s honour, but the evergreen horse could not display anything special.
There was no lack of effort from him, as he kept on chasing the leaders all the way through. However, the luck was not kind to him, since he dropped two places down at the final stages of the race. Consequently, he ended up fourth on the chart, with
Sole Danser, stealing the show.
The four-year-old made a fine effort to win the high status competition. After a steadied start, he held a decent lead till the second last furlong when, Katmai River, challenged him. However, a strong run in the concluding moments guided Milton Bradley’s
horse to a handsome 1 ¼ lengths triumph.
Katmai River and Lastkingofscotland sealed second and third positions, respectively, eliminating Dvinsky’s hopes to seal his 18th career win. The experienced horse also remained slightly unlucky, as he failed to grab third place
by a head’s margin.
Bred by Eclipse Bloodstock and Tipperary Bloodstock, the 11-year-old is the only active horse to complete his double century of starts. So far in his career, he has clinched 13 all-weather and four flat-turf victories. Despite the fact that the champion
sprinter is at the twilight of his career, his trainer, Paul Howling believes the old hand has still a lot to offer.
"There's still life left in the old boy yet. But he's his own worst enemy because he's so consistent and such a trier. We're thinking about re-entering him for the extra meeting here on Saturday as there is another 0-65 6f handicap," Paul Howling said
on Wednesday night.
He is now just 17 starts shy of setting the record of most number of outings, currently held by Sharp Hat. D. W. Chapman’s trainee, who made his last outing in November 2007, took part in 217 races in his career.
Dvinsky is in good position to create history, but breaking Sharp Hat’s record of 24 wins will definitely be an uphill task for David Hardaker’s owned horse.