Haydock Saturday

JUMBY (Eve Johnson Houghton/Charlie Bishop) had everything in his favour for once and bounced back to his best to land the Group 3 John of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock last Saturday.

A Group 2 winner over the trip last term, he showed the benefit of a return to seven furlongs on fast ground to get the better of Australian challenger The Astrologist (Leon & Troy Corstens/Ryan Moore) by a length and a half.

The 9/4 favourite was quick to put a disappointing run over a mile in the Lockinge behind him, although the winning trainer bemoaned the lack of opportunities at the trip for her star, and he may end up dropping in trip for the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, a race he was third in last season.

The Astrologist jumped well from the stalls and Moore attempted to dictate the gallop, but although the runner-up battled well to hold the others at bay, he was no match for the finishing kick of the winner, who scored with a bit to spare having been held up for his customary late run.

El Caballo (Karl Burke/Clifford Lee) ran on for third having met trouble in running, but he would have been no better than second with a clear passage, having only just failed to get up for that spot on the line.

Hardest trip

Johnson Houghton said: “Seven furlongs is the right trip, but seven furlongs is also the hardest trip to find, and he also doesn’t want soft ground, so we have to just pick our way through.

“He’s a brilliant horse who is very good in Group 3s, he’s won a Group 2 and there’s no reason why he couldn’t win another one.

“He’d have to carry a lot of weight in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, but when you see the size of him, I don’t think weight bothers him very much, so we’ll see.”

SEA Silk Road (William Haggas/Tom Marquand) read the script to perfection as she landed the recently renamed Group 3 Lester Piggott Stakes.

Haggas and Marquand had teamed to win the contest – which is registered as the Pinnacle Stakes – with the same connections’ Sea La Rosa 12 months ago, but there was special meaning in taking the first running of the contest under its new title, with Piggott being the father of Haggas’ wife Maureen, who was on duty for the yard in Lancashire.

Sea Silk Road, sent off at 9/2 for the feature contest, wore down long-time leader Nachtrose (Peter Schiergen/Rene Piechulek) to win by three-quarters of a length, with a length back to Poptronic (Karl Burke/Sam James) in third.

Marquand tracked favourite Time Lock at the rear of the field as they raced in Indian file and the latter was sending out distress signals some way at home, with the normally smooth traveller needing to be ridden along before halfway and posing no threat in the end.

Modaara moved up to join Nachtrose with a quarter of a mile remaining, but her efforts proved short-lived, and it was soon clear that Sea Silk Road held all the aces, with Marquand happy to bide his time before asking for a winning effort inside the final furlong.

Described as a “butterball” last season despite finishing second in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot, Maureen Haggas believes that the winner is capable of going on to better things, but ruled out a crack at Ascot again as it will come too soon, and future plans are on ice at present.

It was appropriate that a race commemorating Lester Piggott should be held at Haydock, where he rode his first winner, The Chase, and also his last in Palacegate Jack.

Emotional

Maureen Haggas - there with her sister Tracy and other family members - was unsurprisingly both delighted and a little emotional after this success.

She said: “It’s my father’s race and things like this don’t always happen, so it’s nice when it does. Kirkland and I have been talking for a while as we wanted to have a race here, for obvious reasons.

“It was just a question of which one and this is a nice race on a nice day and a stepping-stone to other things.

“It will be the Lester Piggott forever, which is nice. He was obviously a massive part of my life, and we shared a lot of interests.

“It was hard on all of us when he died, and I miss him terribly.”

Haydock’s card opened with the Listed Achilles Stakes which saw Ed Bethell’s Regional (Callum Rodriguez) make a rapid exit from the stalls before making every yard of the running, beating Equilateral (Charlie Hills/Frankie Dettori) by a length and a quarter.

The 2022 winner Raasel was another length away in third having held every chance a furlong out.

Regional, sent off at 5/1 here, has progressed from handicaps and now looks to have Group 1 races in his sights, with Bethell opining that fast ground and a flat track over five furlongs are ideal for Regional, with the Nunthorpe his main aim.

He may well take in the King George V Stakes at Goodwood prior to that, although the City Walls Stakes at Chester was also offered as an alternative.

Round-Up