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Marquand ending year on a high

3 minute read

Jockey soon jets off to Hong Kong.

Jockey TOM MARQUAND after winning Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in Australia.
Jockey TOM MARQUAND after winning Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in Australia. Picture: Steve Hart

Tom Marquand is enjoying a terrific season and rode his 170th winner of the campaign when United Front landed the Betway Handicap at Lingfield.

Trainer Mick Appleby saw the four-year-old beaten a neck at Kempton 48 hours earlier, but the Nic Brereton-owned four-year-old made no mistake this time, with Marquand easing past Emblem Empire after the favourite folded tamely inside the final furlong.

Marquand said of the 13-8 winner: "To be honest, he surprised me a bit. He picked up the (John and Thady) Gosden horse a bit quicker than I thought he might in the end. It is a tricky track and some horses just lose a bit of balance and don't gain a bit of momentum that others can and when he got levelled up, he was pretty quick to go and pick up the leader."

The winning trainer added: "He is a nice horse and I think there is more improvement in him. We will keep him on the all-weather and while we did contemplate sending him to Dubai, we have ruled that out."

Amber Island (5-1) came with a sweeping run to land the Play Coral Racing-Super-Series For Free / EBF Fillies' Handicap under a peach of a ride from Laura Pearson.

The David Loughnane-trained four-year-old took advantage of a decent pace up front to claim a fourth career success in the seven-furlong event, drawing a cosy half-a-length clear of Unique Cut and Lovely Breeze, who was a neck further back.

Pearson said: "I don't know what David feeds them, because they always look so well. She is a great horse to ride. All of David's horses are performing well at the moment."

Having enjoyed a productive season, with a Royal Ascot winner in Lola Showgirl under her belt, Pearson added: "David has used me since I was a 7lb claimer. He is brilliant to ride for, fills you with confidence and is just a brilliant horseman."

Rhys Clutterbuck was another who timed his ride to perfection, with Rafiot (9-4 favourite) powering home off a slow pace in the two-mile #betyourway At Betway Handicap to beat Winklevi by a short head.

Clutterbuck, a key member of the in-form Gary Moore team, said: "We stepped him up to two miles, but he is a funny horse, because you have to ride him cold. He is one who just likes to take the Mickey a bit.

"If I sat as far back as I did at Kempton last time, I would not have caught the leaders. I crawled down the back straight, picked up a couple of places and turning in, I was bang on the back end of them. We kicked and he has come alight."

Equal Share (11-8 favourite) made all the running in the first division of the one-mile Coral Proud To Support British Racing / EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes, with Richard Kingscote's mount fending off the persistent Azaheer in a race they had to themselves from the start.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained filly can be marked up, having overcome a wide draw, and Kingscote told Sky Sports Racing: "She showed guts to fight off the second horse who was breathing down her nick and showed a nice turn of foot from that draw to minimalize the damage from there."

The second division looked a stronger heat than the first and Kings Joy (9-4) produced a smart winning debut under Robert Havlin.

The daughter of Kingman, trained by John and Thady Gosden, had a length to spare over Playday at the line in a race that looked sure to produce plenty of future winners.

Havlin said: "It is hard to win first time out around here, but you'll learn plenty. She broke well and was a little bit green turning in and was looking around a bit in the last furlong, but she was strong enough.

"She has been working nicely with another filly we have had win, so we thought she would run well today. She is nice filly to look forward to next year."

Victory gave Havlin a double on the card, having earlier landed the seven-furlong Watch Racing Free Online at Coral Nursery Handicap with a power-packed ride aboard Buraback (6-1) for John Best and Karen Jewell.


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