RELIEF Rally (William Haggas/Tom Marquand) looked most unlucky not to land the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, and the well-backed evens favourite made amends in no uncertain terms when dominating a big field for the valuable Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

In a race worth £123,000 to connections of the winner, Tom Marquand’s mount had to race alone in the closing stages from her high draw, but it didn’t stop the filly from scampering clear by three lengths to score from 33/1 shot Dapperling (Richard Hannon/Sean Levey), who had made most of the running in the far-side group.

To quantify the disadvantage of racing in the near-side group, it should be noted that of the next eight home behind Relief Rally, seven raced in a group of 10 who did their running on the far-side of the track. Referring to her agonising Ascot defeat, Haggas said: “She was in front before the line and after the line, but not on the line. She ran a good race there. She is a pretty good filly.

“I don’t know where the second on the stands’ side finished, but she won easy and when he asked her, she picked up well.”

Quizzed about whether he might run his flying filly in the Nunthorpe, Haggas replied: “I don’t think so – I think the Abbaye, but who knows?

“I think the French race is such a draw race. If you get a low draw, it is such an advantage, whereas the Nunthorpe you can win from anywhere.

“In France, you cannot win wide. If our luck is in at that time of the year, we will get a low draw. We will see.”

DUAL Stewards’ Cup hero Commanche Falls gained a deserved first pattern-race success when coming with a powerful late challenge to take the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes, justifying favouritism at 4/1.

A smart and reliable handicapper for Michael Dods, who has now graduated to become a true blacktype performer, he has won on all ground from good to firm to heavy, and this success was an 11th in the six-year-old’s five seasons in training.

Connor Beasley adopted patient tactics aboard Commanche Falls, and the pair had to weave their way through a congested field in the final 100 yards to lead late for a head victory over Diligent Harry (Clive Cox/Richard Kingscote) with the pace-setting Cold Case (Karl Burke/Clifford Lee) another neck away in third in a bunch finish.

Beasley has a remarkable record on the gelding, on board for 29 of his 32 career starts, and all 11 wins, but he did admit thinking that things weren’t going to go his way on this occasion.

“Normally he is a horse that does race behind the bridle,” said the winning rider. “You can normally keep your momentum going, but today I just felt like I wasn’t getting any sort of momentum.

“There wasn’t much room from where I was, and I just had to switch him and make him think again. Once I did that, he really put his head down and he did it nicely in the end.

“He is a massive horse for me in my career and the team and these owners have been very supportive of my career, so I can’t thank them enough. Michael is doing well with these sprinters. He seems to be getting better with age and he is progressing all the time.”

THE Listed Steventon Stakes saw top-rated Al Aasy kick off a treble on the card for trainer William Haggas, with the 10/3 chance reversing recent Fred Archer Stakes form with runner-up Phantom Flight (James Horton/P J McDonald) to come out on top by a length and a half. The winner was bitterly disappointing in that Newmarket contest, raising concerns about his temperament, and after opening at 4/6 in a place when prices first went up, he proved friendless in the market.

This win suggests that Al Aasy retains all his old ability but having looked sure to make his mark at the highest level when first bursting on the scene, he’s proven a challenge for his trainer, who was prosaic about this success.

“Physically, he’s been a battle,” said Haggas. “And mentally he’s not straightforward either. He’s had a couple of injuries and still doesn’t look right in his skin but he’s coming. He’ll go for the Rose of Lancaster at Haydock next.”

THERE was listed action at Newmarket on Saturday, with Karl Burke’s Novakai (Sam James) getting back to winning ways having been runner-up in both the Fillies’ Mile and Musidora Stakes since gaining her only previous success on racecourse bow.

Down the field in the Prix de Diane from a wide draw, she proved that form wrong with an impressive four and three-quarter length victory over Cloudbreaker (Charlie Fellowes/Andrea Atzeni). She clearly relished the step up to a mile and a half here and could go for the Yorkshire Oaks next.

Market Rasen staged a premier handicap in the shape of the Unibet Summer Plate at the weekend, and victory went to bottom-weight Born Famous (Iain Jardine), with the well-backed 3/1 favourite coming in for a superb ride from Harry Cobden, who allowed the inexperienced six-year-old mare to gradually get to grips with the big rise in class, and the longer the race went on, the stronger she looked.

The winning trainer also deserves plaudits for pulling off something of a coup, this a fifth win for Born Famous in as many starts for the stable having been tailed off from an IHRB mark of 83 on her final start for her previous trainer at Thurles.

Cartmel’s fixture on Monday was lost to the weather, but the holiday track once again proved a happy hunting ground for Irish trainers, with John McConnell and Noel Kelly registering wins there on Saturday.

McConnell trained odds-on favourite Kinbara (Ben Harvey) to win a novice hurdle, while Kelly and jcokey Brian Hayes won the handicap chase with Eagle Terrace (16/5).