Takedbown has justified his clear favouritism on the Gold Coast this afternoon; withstanding an impressive late charge by Queenslander Sold For Song to win the Group 3 Gold Coast Guineas (1200m).

Jumping from the gates well in the Gold Coast Guineas, Takedown used his ideal draw to his advantage and immediately took up the running; setting a fair tempo for the classy field alongside the likes of Uno Best and Redsson.

Offered a clear racing line upon arriving at the final straight, Takedown pulled clear and appeared to have the race completely sewn-up but was in fact lucky to withstand a huge late charge from Sold For Song, who made up a huge amount of ground in the final 100m to hit the line only half a length off the pace.

Trainer Gary Moore was understandably thrilled with Takedown’s win in the Gold Coast Guineas and revealed the horse will now be set for the Group 3 Fred Best Classic (1350m) on Doomben 10,000 Day; a race which offers its winner ballot-free entry into the Stradbroke Handicap.

“It was very exciting, he’s a great horse and has been fantastic for the stable,” Moore said.

“He’ll now go onto the Fred Best, and there’s still improvement in him.

“I’d like to thank my son David, he’s done a marvellous job over the past ten day with him.

“I think the 1350m will suit him, because he will be able to dominate from the lead but will travel a bit easier than today.

“Hopefully we can win that because then we’ll be exempt for the Stradbroke!

“He’s got a very big stride and I’d like to thank Widden, I’m just very grateful.

“He had a throat op in November, isn’t making any noise and as you saw today, he was very dominant.”

In winning the 2016 Gold Coast Guineas, Takedown has now posted four wins and as many minors through only thirteen career starts.

2016 Gold Coast Guineas Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	1	TAKEDOWN	Gary Moore	Tim Clark	–	5	57kg	$2.80
2	13	SOLD FOR SONG	Kevin Kemp	Luke Dittman (a)	0.3L	15	55kg	$18
3	10	ALWAYS SACRED	Toby Edmonds	Jeff Lloyd	2.5L	8	57kg	$17
4	3	CRAIGLEA WANDOO	Krystle Johnston	Anthony Allen	2.8L	14	57kg	$61
5	16	BRIGADOON RISE	Peter & Paul Snowden	Blake Shinn	3L	4	55kg	$12
6	20e	THE VIRGINIAN	Toby Edmonds	James Orman (a)	3.3L	13	57kg	$18
7	12	BLUEBERRY HILL	Liam Birchley	Michael Cahill	4.1L	9	55kg	$21
8	5	PRIVLAKA	Robert Heathcote	Glen Colless	4.1L	3	57kg	$18
9	2	BIG TREE	Peter Balzen	Paul Hammersley	4.2L	11	57kg	$18
10	8	PERFECT DARE	Matthew Dunn	Jim Byrne	4.6L	12	57kg	$26
11	15	HESITATION	Kelso Wood	James McDonald	5.6L	16	55kg	$26
12	4	SANTA ANA LANE	Lee & Anthony Freedman	Damian Browne	6.4L	2	57kg	$2.70F
13	17e	WINNING ACCORD	Bruce W Hill	Luke Rolls	7.4L	10	57kg	$101
14	6	IN HIS STRIDE	Rex Lipp	Brad Pengelly	7.5L	7	57kg	$41
15	7	REDSSON	Bruce W Hill	Jason Collett	7.8L	1	57kg	$101
16	18e	UNO BEST	Paul Facoory	Robbie Fradd	10.8L	6	57kg	$31