July 12 - There is no doubt that the potential for an upset is one of the factors that makes horse race betting so thrilling, just ask the canny punters who backed 10/1 shot Awesome Gem in Saturday's $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup (Gr 1).

Ahead of Saturday's 1 1/4 mile race over all weather track at Hollywood Park in California, the betting was dominated by overwhelming 4/5 favourite and defending champion, Rail Trip, who was set to start with Rafael Bejarano aboard.

Awesome Gem, meanwhile, a 7-year-old gelding trained by Craig Dollase with David Flores aboard, did not receive nearly as much attention from betting fans, which was not surprising considering his far-fewer visits to the winner's circle.

But that was all set to change on Saturday. When the race got underway, it became apparent fairly early on that despite the outing's 6-horse field, it was more like a 2-horse race between 5-year-old gelding Rail Trip and Awesome Gem.

Racing fans at Hollywood Park craned their necks to see whether the 'old-timer' could take on the younger, far more proven favourite Rail Trip was in the lead in the final furlong, but Flores asked Awesome Gem for more and he answered.

Fans who backed the favourite issued a collective groan when Awesome Gem pushed past Rail Trip with less than a 1/16 of a mile to go, and held on to cross the line first. Richard's Kid finished 2 3/4 lengths behind Rail Trip in third place.

Awesome Gem returned $18 and was the talk of Hollywood Park for a while. According to his connections, it took 13 Gr 1 races over more than three years for the gelding to make his way into the winner's circle of such a prestigious race.

Said an ecstatic Dollase, 'I've finally won the Hollywood Gold Cup. It's pretty exciting. A lot of work went into keeping this horse sound over the years.' The pay day hoisted Awesome Gem's career earnings to a none-too-shabby $2,274,682.

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2011/12/09 12:47:21 AM