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Deagon Atmosphere Agrees With Former Godolphin Gelding
Date: 24-Jun-2024
Former Godolphin gelding Atmosphere provided his many new owners with a winning experience in the opening race on Ipswich Cup Day.
In four previous first-up runs, the son of Lonhro had failed to trouble the judge so there was a concern that he may need the run in the Class 3 Plate over 1100m.
However, with the aid of the favourable Queensland climate, Deagon conditioner Jack Bruce produced a training masterstroke to provide Atmosphere with the required steel to hang on for a nose victory.
While the large contingent of Atmosphere’s ownership group enjoyed a cheeky collect, Bruce wasn’t as bullish about the four-year-old's chances.
“There’s plenty of them here and they’ve had a little bit of a bet by the sound of things,” Bruce revealed.
“I wouldn’t say I encouraged that, but anyway they’re lucky they’ve got out and it was a good effort, he did a good job.
“I was confident but obviously you never know.
“He doesn’t have a great win record; he’s only ever won two races in all his runs, but he has good form.
“It’s just about getting his confidence back.
“Coming up to Queensland and trying to get him to win again and enjoy that feeling.
“I wouldn’t want to say I want to watch that race again though, but it’s done now and out of the way.”
Bruce was conscious of putting enough work into his gelding’s legs and lungs to give him every chance of producing a bold first-up showing.
With the confidence boosting win under his belt, the talented horseman firmly believes there’s plenty more good times in store.
“I supposed the one thing is that he hadn’t raced in six months, so we just wanted to make sure that he was battle hardened to do it,” Bruce said.
“He had to run some pretty slick time on the way home to hold them all off, so he’s done a great job.
“I could see Gollan’s horse coming and thought, oh no here we go.
“It’s a credit to the horse that he hung tough and he’s going to be a handy horse in Queensland.
“That’s why we bought him so hopefully this is the start of something.”
2024 Ipswich Cup winning jockey Angela Jones expertly piloted Atmosphere and was complimentary of what he delivered for her.
“He’s a lovely horse and a pleasure to ride,” Jones said.
“I love riding these big striding horses that really appreciate free rolling.
“Barrier one was a great advantage for him, and he jumped well and found the paint.
“He didn’t want a couple more strides, but he did enough to hold on.
“There’s plenty of improvement there and it’s a credit to Jack Bruce producing him first-up.”
By Craig Sheppard
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