Gunnison won his first two starts in Australia including the Group II ATC
Todman Stakes beating subsequent Group I winner Invader before he was offered
for sale by James Harron Bloodstock, who ha d purchased him as a yearling at
Inglis Easter for $850,000.Now trained by John Size, Gunnison was having his sixth start in Hong Kong following five unplaced efforts and found his best form at Happy Valley on Wednesday night to win the Class Two France Galop Cup over 1200 metres by a nose.
"It was a good job from him tonight because he's a three-year-old in Class 2," Size said. "It looked like hard work when he arrived, but he's managed to win a race before the end of the season so we're pretty satisfied with that."
Gunnison stopped the clock in 1m 08.56s, only four one-hundredths of a second outside the track record set by subsequent G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m) winner Ivictory.
However, Size does not see Gunnison scaling the same heights.
"I don't think Gunnison has got too much upside," Size said. "I think he's going to hover around Class 2. They've run very fast time tonight but there were two horses that have run the same time, not just one. He could improve and should improve as a four-year-old, but I think the top of Class 2 would be a good rating for him."
Gunnison is from Group II winner Colorado Claire, whose current yearling, a More Than Ready (USA) colt, made $300,000 at Magic Millions this year for Arrowfield.
