IT’S hard not to be taken with the way Gold Ship (39) can charge from miles behind to win big races in Japan. The searching early gallop and big sweeping turns of most Japanese turf courses suit him admirably.

Gold Ship didn’t have ideal conditions for his comeback race, the Group 2 Sapporo Kinen. The distance was only 10 furlongs, a bit short of his best, and the track was only just over a mile around.