Condemned continues Godolphin 2YO success

Godolphin colt Condemned makes a winning start to his racing career at Warwick Farm.

He might have paraded on the burly side but Condemned has underlined his potential with a win on debut at Warwick Farm.

The Goldolphin colt followed the example another Godolphin runner by Dawn Approach in Gongs by making the perfect start to his racing career with a well-timed win in the Merry Christmas From The ATC Plate (1200m).

A strong burst under Corey Brown enabled Condemned ($5) to hit the line a short neck clear of Sokudo ($6) while Rock Zone ($26) was a nose back in a bunched finish.

Godolphin assistant trainer Darren Beadman was delighted with Condemned’s first race-day experience.

“We’ve had quite a bit of success with the Dawn Approaches, they’re lovely horses to train, they’re very straight-forward, foolproof and they get the job done,” he said.

“He’s quite a deceiving type of colt, he’s not explosive, he just goes through his gears and his work in the morning.”

Beadman revealed Condemned had to be roused awake in his box before the race, in keeping with his casual nature.

“We swim him a lot, walk him, we don’t give him a lot of hard galloping. He conserves his energy and when you ask for an effort he delivers,” he said.

Beadman thought Condemned might have been in difficulty heading into the straight, though only briefly.

“They looked they were going to get round him but but he just build his revs up.

“There’s not a lot of muscle definition there. He’s got a little bit of a waistline around him, that’ll trim him up,” he said.

Condemned will now head for a break while Godolphin head trainer James Cummings maps out the next phase his career.

Brown was confident better-class races awaited the two-year-old in 2018.

“When they started to come up around him it sounds silly but I was happy in a way because it half switched him on and got him going a bit,” he said.

“The last hundred, he was going to get away from them. I was soft on him, he’s a lovely horse.”