Thursday 18th December 2008
Superb 2008 GSC Series concludes with ‘Inspiration-al’ triumph
Winning connections and Global Sprint Challenge representatives in Hong Kong last Sunday
THE 2008 Global Sprint Challenge came to its conclusion on December 14 when Inspiration landed the final leg in Hong Kong
The John Moore-trained five-year-old had sprinting stars such as Apache Cat and Marchand D’Or behind him as he sprang something of a surprise result in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin.
The thrilling race brought an end to the fourth cycle of the Global Sprint Challenge, which started in February with the Coolmore Lightning Stakes at Flemington, Australia.
All in all there were eight legs to the series and for the first time Newmarket featured with the £400,000 Darley July Cup being staged as the showpiece event of the July Festival.
It proved a stunning spectacle as Marchand D’Or came from last to first to confirm his status as Europe’s top sprinter.
Newmarket’s Director of Racing Michael Prosser said: “We were absolutely delighted that in 2008 the Darley July Cup was part of the Global Sprint Challenge for the first time.
“It was a superb spectacle and appropriate for such a highly-regarded race that it went to Europe’s current champion sprinter Marchand D’Or.”
The 2009 Global Sprint Challenge begins on Saturday, 31 January with the Coolmore Lightning Stakes.
Newmarket will once again stage the fourth leg with the Darley July Cup taking centre-stage on Friday, July 10.
Read all about the 2009 Global Sprint Challenge series as it unfolds on this website.
