More to come from Ryan’s sprinter as Ascot beckons

THE sun baked down on York this week, and more of the Aidan O’Brien youngstock threw down the gauntlet for various classic races in the summer.

However, it was one of the old guard that made an eye-catching seasonal return on his quest to land back to back Commonwealth Cups at Royal Ascot, writes Page Fuller.

It’s a bit crazy to think that this time last year, Inisherin had just had a crack at the Guineas, but dropping back to six furlongs since has been revolutionary for him. He’s a big, strapping type of horse, which is not normally associated with sprint distances, so you can see why they tried him over further.

Crucially, he can quicken his stride to reach speeds of over 41 mph, and also cover a lot of ground with each stride. This makes him extremely efficient in his races. His average stride length in the Clipper Stakes on Wednesday was 7.88 metres and the largest of the field.

Outstay

By travelling through the race in this fashion, he was able to outstay his rivals after Night Raider set blistering fractions early doors.

They posted two sub-11 second furlongs through the second and third furlongs, and then his stamina kicked in to be one of only two horses able to complete the final furlong in under 13 seconds.

In his post-race interview, Kevin Ryan also suggested that he is currently weighing in heavier than when he is fully race fit (wouldn’t it be nice to have that data!).

So that also suggests that, whatever we witnessed on Wednesday, there is still room for improvement again this summer.