Sandown Saturday
LADY Of Spain (Roger Varian/Ray Dawson) retained her unbeaten record when taking the Group 3 BetMGM Atalanta Stakes at Sandown Park on Saturday at an SP of 14/1.
The daughter of Phoenix Of Spain made it five wins from as many starts on her return from an absence of over eight months, securing a first turf win in the process.
Lady Of Spain and Blue Bolt (Andrew Balding/Colin Keane) both challenged wide of market leader Bright Thunder, after that filly had led going well early in the straight, but while Blue Bolt stayed wide on the track, Lady Of Spain drifted towards the inside rail as the pair battled for supremacy, hanging on to score by a hard-fought half-length.
Skellett (Ralph Beckett) with Hector Crouch wearing the Juddmonte second colours, was third, four lengths away. Lady Of Spain battled well on the tacky ground to hold on all out from Blue Bolt, and both have entries in the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket next month.
This isn’t always the strongest contest, but with the front pair both having positive profiles and able to pull well clear of the others, it would be foolish to suggest the Newmarket contest as a bridge too far.
Dawson, speaking on ITV, said: “My plan was to slide forward and hopefully slot in the first five or six, but after the first furlong, I noticed there was a big gap in between the four upsides me so I took her back, but I had a willing partner, and she was tough as around the home bend it got tight and messy.
“She held her position, and whether that has made the difference I don’t know, but she has got a lot of ability.”
A BIT Of Spirit (Clive Cox/Rossa Ryan) got the best of a thrilling four-way finish in the Group 3 BetMGM Solario Stakes, scoring by a nose having been backed into favouritism at 2/1. The son of Palace Pier showed class and grit in equal measure to emerge victorious by the smallest margin ahead of outsider Oceans Four (Brian Meehan/Joe Leavy), with the same distance back to Humidity (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy), although the stewards reversed the positions of the placed horses after late interference.
Racing on the pace throughout, the winner looked in trouble briefly as Pacific Spirit passed him a furlong and a half out, but he kept grinding away and forced his head back in front close home as that rival tired on the ground. The winner has entries in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, and the Royal Lodge and Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, looking worth his place at a higher level despite the narrow margins involved.
Cox said: “He is so tough. I think he was beaten there for a minute then he got back up. He has got remarkable courage, that is the thing. We had no idea if he would cope with conditions this easy as we haven’t seen ground like this all summer. I’m just so proud of him. He is all heart, and he is so tough.”
Confidence
On future targets, Cox added: “Now he handles this ground, as long as he is well in himself, we can plot accordingly. Jason (Maguire, Racing Manager for Paul and Clare Rooney) will have a good chat. Today was a learning curve from that point of view and I think that confirms we will be able to plot with a little bit more confidence where we are going.
“He is in the Royal Lodge, but we might prefer to stay at seven furlongs. He is also in the Lagardere over in France.”
Around the Tracks
Shagraan better than ever
SHAGRAAN (Mick Appleby/Kevin Stott) has been a model of consistency this season and showed his rivals a clean pair of heels to land the Listed William Hill Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes on Saturday.
The four-year-old tracked the pace before launching a strong challenge with two furlongs to run and, with the blinkered Regional racing too freely to last home, the 15/2 chance grabbed the far rail in the closing stages to score by two and a quarter lengths from the gambled-on Adrestia (Simon and Ed Crisford/ David Allan), with Star Of Lady M (David O’Meara/Mark Winn) third.
Shagraan was producing a career-best effort to gain a first blacktype victory, having been placed at Group 3 level earlier in the campaign, and he’s been given a bump in the ratings to 108, enough to rule him out of handicaps for the foreseeable future.
Appleby said: “Shagraan needed to get his head back in front. He’d been running some great races in handicaps, but it was hard to be winning them off his mark. He’s versatile over sprint trips, so the uphill finish of this track suited him well.
We’ll possibly try him back in group company, but we’ll be looking at going abroad, as the track in Dubai should suit him to a tee. He’s paid his way to go out there.”
EDWARD Greatrex won his first listed race for more than four years with a fine front-running ride on Allonsy (Ralph Beckett) in the Virgin Bet Chester Stakes. Greatrex quit the saddle in 2021 due to ongoing back problems before making his comeback last year. He registered the biggest success since his return when making all on the Kirsten Rausing-owned filly, who held off Tabletalk (Tom Clover/Jack Mitchell) by a length at an SP of 4/1.
Greatrex told Sky Sports Racing: “I spoke to Ralph in the morning, and I’d won twice on her making the running, and she seems to really enjoy it. We both agreed, she’d love it around here and thank goodness she has. She’s not overly big, but she’s agile and light on her feet, and she likes quick ground.
“She suited it all round and is very versatile. I knew she’d stay had they gone overly quick early, she’s also very gutsy and genuine. She’s a jockey’s dream.”