William Hill Temple Stakes |
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| Group 2, Haydock Park 15:30 £165,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 5f, Class 1  |
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1 Night Raider 3/1F
2
American Affair 10/1
3
Beautiful Diamond 28/1
12 ran NR: First Instinct Distances: 1l, hd, shd
Time: 1m 1.02s (slow by 3.32s)
A sprint double for Clifford Lee & Karl Burke 🏆🏆
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 23, 2026
Night Raider wins the William Hill Temple Stakes 🥇#ITVRacing | @CliffordleexLee | @karl_burke pic.twitter.com/emkHLBDeUU
Night Raider completed a major-race double for Karl Burke and Clifford Lee with an impressive victory at Haydock.
The 3-1 chance, who had been gelded over the winter, returned to action with a front-running demolition job in the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket and was expected to employ similar tactics once again.
However, after a slightly slow start, Lee elected to ride with more patience. Travelling strongly two furlongs from home, the jockey had to wait for an opening before switching his mount to the inside.
Night Raider responded willingly when asked, quickening smartly to score by a length, with American Affair taking second and stablemate Beautiful Diamond staying on for third.
Burke’s remarkable day also featured victory in the Sandy Lane Stakes with Venetian Sun and success at Goodwood through Golden Story in the Cocked Hat Stakes.
Following the performance, Paddy Power and Sky Bet cut Night Raider to 10-1 from 16-1 for the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Richard Brown, racing manager for owners Wathnan Racing, said: “I’m absolutely delighted with that. A lot went wrong, mainly at the stalls.
“In a five-furlong race, when something goes wrong at the start it’s usually game over. There was a delay and he banged his head in the stalls, missed the break by a couple of lengths and normally that’s enough to ruin your chance.
“We think he’s most comfortable bowling along in front because he has a huge stride.
“To see him do it differently today gives James Doyle options at Royal Ascot if circumstances require a different approach.
“We wanted to see him back up his Newmarket performance. Karl and the team felt gelding him had made a huge difference, but you always want confirmation.
“He enjoys being prominent, but if there’s a strong pace at Ascot, James now knows he has different ways of riding him.”
Jim Goldie said of runner-up American Affair: “I’m delighted with that and we wanted this run into him.
“The ground probably just blunted him a little and on quicker ground he may have taken some catching.
“We followed a similar route before Ascot last year. He needs racing and this should bring him spot on for Royal Ascot.”
Philip Robinson, racing manager to Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, said of Beautiful Diamond: “That was very encouraging.
“In France she tried to jump too quickly and lost her footing, but looking at this performance another furlong may not be out of the question.
“I originally thought she would be a useful Listed filly, but she’s shown us she could be better than that.
“She’s come out of France really well and there might be a very nice filly there.”
Temple Stakes
£165,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 5f, Class 1
12 ran
Going: Good to Soft, Good in places
