Temple Stakes report & free video replay | Kerdos comes of age for Clive Cox

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Sat May 25, 2024 · 7M ago

Kerdos proved himself a sprinter on a upward curve with a commanding victory in the Betfred Temple Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.

Clive Cox's son of Profitable was sent of 12/1 under Richard Kingscote but he travelled through the race smoothly after getting a perfect tow into the contest from Live In The Dream.

Adam West's Nunthorpe winner drifted 8/1 on the off with concerns about his fitness first time up, but he ran a cracker in second, with only Kerdos too strong by a cosy half-length.

Cox won this race with Profitbale and Priceless in 2016 and 2017, with the former going on to win the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

That race is called the King Charles III Stakes this year and Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power cut Kerdos to 25/1 from 50s for the day one race on Tuesday June 18. William Hill and Ladbrokes go as short as 10/1.

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Kingscote said: “We thought he’d improved from last year and we also thought he was better than he’d shown this year.

“I got a nice lead into it, through the first furlong I wanted a bit of cover but once I did he dropped his head nicely.

“There’s still things we can work with on him, but he’s a nice horse going forward. He’s the type of horse Clive does really well with.”

Part-owner Alan Spence said: “It’s the third time we’ve won this race as we won with his sire, Profitable and also with Priceless so we’ve had three Temple Stakes winners, all with Clive which takes a bit of doing.

“The faster they are, the better Clive likes them!

“We were a bit worried about the ground today but they haven’t used the straight course and it’s not as heavy, if anything it’s only soft.

“It looked like he took a bit of getting going today but I think that is because the other one (Live In The Dream) goes so fast, but once he was settled we were there.

“Royal Ascot is the plan, it was before today.”

Adam West was more than satisfied with Live In The Dream’s first run since finishing fourth at the Breeders’ Cup meeting back in November.

He said: “That couldn’t have gone better. He missed the break by half a beat today and I think that was because the horse next to him was playing up.

“He’s done everything I wanted to see today and he’s having a nice blow – I think he’s going to be a superstar this year.

“All the others had had runs, fair play the winner is nice and has been produced brilliantly but knowing what he has left in the tank for next time, we’ve avoided a penalty so we couldn’t have asked for more.

“We’re not going to Ascot, it’s too stiff a track for him, so we’re going for the Coral Charge at Sandown – that’s always been the plan and it’s a our home track. He can get some confidence there before he heads for bigger things but I’m absolutely delighted.”

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