Unibet Summer Plate: Gloire D’athon bids for biggest win

By Graham Clark

Horse Racing

Tue July 18, 2023 · 1y ago

Sarah Humphrey hopes Gloire D’athon can continue his remarkable transition since joining her team by securing what she admits would be the biggest victory of her career on Saturday in the Unibet Summer Plate Handicap Chase at Market Rasen.

Picked up for just £15,000 by his current connections at the Goffs UK September horses-in-training sale in 2021, the gelded son of Doctor Dino will now bid to continue his rise through the ranks in the £55,000 Premier Handicap at the Lincolnshire track. He is an 8-1 chance with sponsor Unibet.

Since joining the West Wratting handler, Gloire D’athon, who was previously trained in Ireland by Henry de Bromhead, has won five of his 10 starts, winning more than £60,000 in prize money in the process.

However, while Humphrey is pleased with the progress shown by her latest stable star she admits that at first she wondered what she had let herself in following an inauspicious beginning.

Humphrey said: “When he first came to us he had completely lost his way and he was in a muddle with everything. He wouldn’t go on the lorry to come home and there was a part of me thinking - what have I got here?

“We spent a long time sorting his jumping out as he was fairly cautious about that, and we spent a lot of time sorting out his head as well as he was a bit sharp with his teeth and legs. We’ve also spent a lot of time teaching how to load on to the lorry and that is where the beauty of going in and out of Newmarket helped with loading on the lorry, although he can still be funny very occasionally.

“He is quirky and I’m sure if he was a human he would have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), but he has quite quickly came around to being a nice character.

“He has been important for the yard as he has got us back being noticed. If he was to win on Saturday it would be the biggest winner of my career and horses like him show that we are perfectly capable of doing the job.”

Even though Gloire D’athon has settled into his new surroundings Humphrey insists he can still have the odd quirky moment.

She added: “He wears a hood in his races and he wears a hood at home. A little while back I said why don’t we take the hood off him at home as it was a warm day, well obviously it is a comfort blanket as that didn’t work. He is also one that does like his routine. A little while back because the weather was nice I changed things around a bit as I thought they must get fed up of doing the same things.

“I said to warm them up we will hack around the farm first, as they normally do that after they have done their work, but he got himself into such sweat. He bounced up and down on the spot and spent the whole time going sideways and all over the place. The next day I said we will go back to our usual routine and he was fine.”

On the track things failed to go to plan for Gloire D’athon on his stable debut after he finished last in a novices’ handicap hurdle at Wincanton, however since being switched back to fences, following two starts over them in Ireland, he has not looked back.

Victories at Huntingdon and Worcester were followed by wins at Sandown Park, either side of his defeat at Plumpton, before the Jennifer Pitman-owned seven year old made a successful step into open race company in the Clarke Chase at Uttoxeter last time out.

Humphrey said: “You can put a line through his first race over hurdles as he went after the leader and was eventually swallowed up. He went again and he was fourth then he was second and second.

“I said forget hurdles, let's go chasing as he was jumping his hurdles like fences and he then came out and won at Huntingdon and then at Worcester. Sandown Park was great as they are big fences and he jumped them so well then we went to Plumpton and the course didn’t suit him and Aidan (Coleman) said never go back to Plumpton. We then went back to Sandown and onto Uttoxeter.

“We knew he was in good form at Uttoxeter, but every time he has won and gone up a bit I’ve said to the owner we are probably at his best but he just keeps on improving. Aidan gave him a lovely ride and he held on and did it. I thought he would be in the first four so it was very exciting that he won.

“He is rated 133 now and I would hope he can still take advantage of that as that didn’t bottom him. Hopefully the ground is fine for him to take his chance on Saturday.”

While Humphrey insists the Unibet Summer Plate has been ‘on the radar’ for some time she hopes that an outing over the famous Grand National fences at Aintree could materialise at some point during the season.

She added: “Even before he ran at Uttoxeter the Summer Plate has always been on the radar. Even before he ran at Uttoxeter this was on the radar. After the Uttoxeter race Aidan said we could take him to the Galway Plate and that we would go there with a live chance. His jumping is his asset, and he just gets into that lovely rhythm and jumps for fun.

“I’ve said to the owner we want to go for the Topham at the end of the season. I don’t think the fences would be any issue to him. We could go for the Sefton before that and that would suit him well, otherwise we will head for the open handicaps and see where he is. Aidan also said with time he will stay three miles, but he doesn’t need to go that trip yet.”

Although Humphrey is confident Gloire D’athon still has plenty of his journey left to continue she has already acquired what she hopes can turn out to be another bargain buy in the form of the former Paul Nicholls trained Milan Bridge.

She said: “Milan Bridge is a lovely looking horse. Paul Nicholls said to me that he needs his wind done and his confidence building and if you do that you will have a good horse. We’ve had his wind done and hopefully he could be another potential Gloire D’athon. We will start off at smaller tracks and build his confidence and see where we go. If he rediscovers that form he had over hurdles they will have a fun horse. I think he is very exciting and I’m itching to get going with him.”

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