France, Hong Kong and now Australia – the amazing journey of Dice Roll
At Deauville back in April, 2018, Dice Roll (Showcasing) won the Group 3 Prix Djebel (1400m), defining himself as one of the most exciting three-year-olds in France.
Three years on, we find him entered in a race at an off-season Melbourne meeting and there have been a few twists and turns in his journey to Sandown since those heady days in Europe.
Soon after Dice Roll ran third to Olmedo (Declaration of War) in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) (Gr 1, 1600m), Hong Kong trainer Tony Cruz forked out a whopping €2.5 million to buy him on behalf of Pan Sutong in a bid to try and win the prominent owner another Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m).
They renamed Dice Roll as Gold Win, but, ironically, he couldn’t win a race in Hong Kong.
His best performance there was a fourth placing at Sha Tin over 1400 metres in Class 2 grade.
After 11 lacklustre starts, finishing last in his final four runs in the city, beaten a combined 71 lengths, he was clearly unsuited by the rigours of the Hong Kong environment and his connections decided to give up on the expensive import and retire him.
They sent him to Australia to see out his days at Pan Sutong’s luxurious Goldin Farms in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, where he played paddock nanny to all the young Thoroughbred stock there.
After 18 months, the big, flashy liver chestnut ended up as fat as a fool on all the lush grass and left the Hong Kong billionaire’s Australian bloodstock adviser, Jeff Gordon, thinking what a great waste it was of such a talented horse.
So, Gordon suggested to his boss to put him back into training with his stepson Nick Ryan, a former top jockey who now has a boutique stable at Flemington, and see how he might go.
“He was as big as a whale when he got to me, gee he was fat, he spent a lot of time in the pool, let me tell you.
“But his action was brilliant and he was as sound as a bell and he was going super so I took him along steady for six weeks just trotting and cantering and he just came on every week and started to take shape.
“He’s a remarkable horse. I think we haven’t seen the best of him yet. What he’s done from when I first got him, not many horses would do it,” said Ryan.
After 82 weeks on racing’s sidelines, Dice Roll returned to the track in a Benchmark 78 over 1400 metres at Caulfield on April 17.
“I thought at the time, I’ve got a horse that’s run third in a French Guineas and it’s in a Benchmark 78, it should be spanking them.”
And that he did, sending Ryan jumping for joy around the saddling enclosure after he crossed the line.
“Hong Kong didn’t agree with him and since all the time off he’s refreshed and soundness wise the big break did him the world of good. It’s like he’s been reborn.”
Ryan, who has a team of 15 horses in work at Flemington, rides every piece of the six-year-old’s trackwork and from the first day he threw a leg over him he knew he had something pretty special underneath him.
“I don’t think I have had a horse like him come into my barn. The feel he gives me is that he’s a serious, serious horse. I’ve ridden a lot of good horses and he ticks all the boxes.
“He’s a Rolls Royce, he’s got a huge stride on him and you feel like you are on the clouds when you ride him,” he said.
Today, Dice Roll will contest a 1400-metre open handicap at Sandown and is taking on stablemate and top weight Sircconi (Nicconi), who is on target for the Queensland winter racing carnival.
“It will be interesting because it was a big win the other day and he’s second-up, but he’s thrived since. He worked well on Tuesday and his blood was good. The feel he’s giving me is he will run well.
“It looks like he’s going to get the run of the race. He could be quite impressive, I’m hoping.”
Ryan convincingly believes he could be the best horse he’s ever trained and is eternally grateful for the decision his step-father Jeff Gordon made to roll the dice once more with him.
“It’s like I have a $3 million tried horse if you look at it like that. It’s extraordinary.
“Jeff is very, very, very good at what he does. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He’s got the knowledge and he’s filled me with the confidence.
Let’s see how the dice roll today.