Kiwi trespasser Jon Snow assumes throne with Derby victory

JON Snow, named after a character in the hit TV show Game Of Thrones, proved a star in his own right when he won a classic in every sense of the word at Royal Randwick yesterday.

This was a survival of the fittest as Jon Snow edged past Harper’s Choice to win a thrilling Group 1 $2 million BMW ATC Australian Derby (2400m).

Andrew Forsman, who has formed a training partnership with New Zealand maestro Murray Baker, had his first Australian Group 1 win but only just.

“I thought he was going to win easy and I went the early crow,’’ Forsman said. “But he had to really dig deep and fight hard. That’s what this horse does, he’s a tough stayer.’’

Jon Snow ($7.50) eventually got the better of a gritty Harper’s Choice ($26) to win the Derby by three-quarters of a length with Hardham ($31) a short head away third.

This was Baker’s fourth win in the ATC Australian Derby after previous successes with Nom Du Jeu (2008), It’s A Dundeel (2013) and Mongolian Khan (2015).

But Baker wasn’t in Sydney for his latest training coup, he left his new training partner Forsman to take the limelight.

“It’s a pleasure to be in part- nership with a great trainer,’’ Forsman said.

“Murray’s a master and knows how to bring them over here and get the job done. He knows how to get them fit and ready and just glad we pulled it off.”

Jon Snow had finished third in the NZ Derby behind Gingernuts and Forsman admitted he did not think the colt could improve enough to win the Randwick classic.

Opie Bosson, rider of fifthplaced Gingernuts, said it was hard to make up ground.

“He got back, got a few bumps along the top which put him on the wrong leg and took the stuffing out of him a bit but he fought on OK,’’ Bosson said.