A review of the rest of the action and free video replays from Saturday's meeting at Haydock Park.
Boy claims welcome win
Holloway Boy secured his first victory since making a successful debut at Royal Ascot over two years ago in the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Superior Mile.
Karl Burke’s four-year-old made an explosive start to his career when running out a shock 40/1 winner of the 2022 Chesham Stakes, but while he has been placed in good company on numerous occasions since, he had failed to add to his tally.
Returning to Group Three company after being on the podium in lucrative handicaps Sandown, Goodwood and York this summer, Holloway Boy was a 7/2 shot to snap a 12-race losing streak and travelled strongly for much of the race in the hands of William Buick.
Prague, the 100/30 favourite, came from the rear of the field to throw down his challenge and encountered traffic problems along the way.
Dylan Cunha’s runner got rolling late, but having navigated his way to the front a furlong out, Holloway Boy had just enough up his sleeve to repel the market leader by half a length, with Witch Hunter only a head further behind in third.
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“He’s a very talented horse, always has been, but he does just save a bit for himself. You could see in the last half-furlong there he was pulling up a bit,” said Burke. “He’s been running really well in big handicaps. He’s been travelling well and then petering out inside the last half-furlong and not quite getting there, so I said to William today ‘if you’re travelling well three down, go and let him get his head in front’ – and I’m so glad he didn’t listen!
“William came in and said he’s a horse who wants something to aim at. He doesn’t down tools, but he’s a lazy horse and he’s like that at home. We went the route of big-money handicaps and it didn’t quite happen, so we were looking for this type of race and it’s worked out.
“I’m not sure where we’ll go next, to be honest. He’ll go on any ground, so he’ll run right the way through and I might look at travelling abroad to Dubai or Saudi – he’s that type of horse you could go anywhere with.”
Poet has his day in the sun
Epic Poet secured the big-race victory he has promised all season in the Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup.
Bought out of Freddie and Martyn Meade’s yard for 48,000 guineas last autumn, the five-year-old had run with credit on each of his first four starts for David O’Meara, notably picking up second place in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot before placing fifth in the John Smith’s Cup and fourth in the Ebor York.
The son of Lope De Vega was sent off at 11/2 to claim the lion’s share of £100,000 on Merseyside and after travelling ominously alongside Waxing Gibbous inside the final two furlongs, he saw out the one-mile-six-furlong trip well to get the better of that determined rival by a neck.
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O’Meara said: “I’m delighted with him. He’s had a very good season without winning. He ran a cracker at Royal Ascot and I think he was the only horse with a high draw to get in the frame in the Ebor, so he deserved to win a big one – it’s not before time.
"It was a great ride from Danny as usual and it’s great to get his head in front. I’m not sure where we’ll go now, but I wouldn’t be put off trying him in a Pattern race – I think he’s good enough. Long-term, I wouldn’t mind looking at the Red Sea Turf Handicap in Saudi Arabia, which is obviously worth a lot of money.”
Improving Builder wins again
Master Builder came from last to first to claim top honours in the Betfair Plays Different Handicap.
David Menuisier’s grey was a couple of lengths behind the rest of the field racing down the back straight, but was still travelling well after the home turn and quickened up smartly under a well-judged ride from William Buick to secure a two-and-a-quarter-length success as the 3/1 favourite.
“I’m delighted. He did something really nice in the Melrose (at York, finished third) and we were quite confident that with a bit of cut in the ground he would improve again,” said Menuisier.
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“The question mark was it was only two weeks since he ran, but we didn’t do a lot between York and here and William made it look easy really! The horse switches off very easily and very quickly. They went very fast early on, so I wasn’t too worried when he was behind. Turning in, you could see that he was picking up the bridle and was travelling better than anything else, so I thought we would be unlucky not to win from that point onwards.
“I don’t really have any plans at the moment. We have to enjoy this one and then make plans.”
Appleby and Murphy strike with Shagraan
Mick Appleby and Oisin Murphy combined to land the Betfair Be Friendly Handicap, with 9/4 favourite Shagraan lunging late to get up and beat Jer Batt by half a length.
“That was good, he was drawn on the wrong side really, but luckily we knew Night On Earth would go pretty quick and tow us into it, which he did. It all worked out well,” said Appleby. “The ground was on the softer side for him, but he’s done the job well and I think he’s still improving.”
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Considering future plans, the trainer added: “Oisin wants to go in the sun somewhere! We’ve thought about it and Bahrain would be right up his street, five furlongs there, but there won’t be that many races out there for him.
“We’ll have a look and see where we’re going to go. I’m sure there’ll be more suitable opportunities for him this year before we put him away.”
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