It was great to see Tom Marquand riding a birthday winner on Petrus in the Spring Mile Handicap on Saturday. We were then treated to a great performance by Red Starlight in the Unibet Doncaster Mile Stakes (Listed Race) to finish runner-up to Sharjah Bridge who is officially rated 110, ten pounds higher than us. The ground had dried out to be quicker than ideal for Red Starlight, but they pulled well clear of the third horse. In the Lincoln no one could even get close to the hot pot favourite Auxerre who won very easily; but Wahash ran well from his outside stall. He got knocked about in the early stages and was set alight racing widest of all with no cover before Tom managed to tuck in. He made his challenge two furlongs from home and quickened up to within a couple of lengths of the front before staying on at the one pace inside the last furlong. The handicapper has relented a little dropping him by two pounds. He is a lovely horse that always tries his best and we should have some more fun with him this season in the handicap sphere.
On the Sunday it was great to get a winner for King Power Racing with our first runner of the new turf season for them with Fox Champion. He showed a very willing attitude under Silvestre De Sousa on ground that may have been quick enough for him. He has scope to keep on improving as do plenty of the King Power three year old horses and we are very excited for the season ahead. We also saw the return of Buridan in the six furlong handicap after seven months off the track. He settled beautifully and showed a very high cruising speed. He never really saw much daylight from the two pole and should come on for that effort. We should find some nice handicaps for him this year over six furlongs and given his propensity for speed tracks the sprint series at Windsor could be a target.