Betfred Hungerford Stakes |
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| Group 2, Newbury 15:45 £150,000 added, 3yo plus, 7f, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 15th August 2015 | |
1 Adaay 15/2
2 Coulsty 10/1
3 Breton Rock 5/1
NR: Home Of The Brave (IRE), Limato (IRE), Richard Pankhurst, Safety Check (IRE), Tupi (IRE)
11 ran Distances: ½l, hd, 1¼l
TIME 1m 26.76s (slow by 4.26s)
Adaay comfortably saw out 7 furlongs to win the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes
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The William Haggas-trained three-year-old made light of any stamina concerns when seeing out the seven-furlong trip best of them all to bounce back from his midfield finish in a red-hot Commonwealth Cup and claim the Group Two prize.
While the rain that hit the track overnight on Thursday and into Friday saw a number of the leading candidates including Limato, Home Of The Brave and Richard Pankhurst swerve the contest, it still served up a pulsating finish.
Those that raced close to the pace appeared to have it between them with early leader Coulsty and the prominently-ridden trio of Breton Rock, Markaz and Heaven's Guest seemingly having most of their rivals in trouble.
As both Heaven's Guest and Markaz gave way, Coulsty and last year's winner Breton Rock were joined by Adaay and Cable Bay to fight out the finish hitting the final furlong.
Having been steadied at the rear of the field by Paul Hanagan early on, the son of Kodiac soon found his stride when switched out wide late on.
Although Coulsty rallied in game pursuit he could not match the finish of the 15-2 shot, with half a length the difference between the pair at the line and Breton Rock a further head back in third.
Maureen Haggas, wife of the winning trainer, said: "We would not be frightened of going up to a mile if the right race was there, he obviously doesn't mind cut in the ground and it opens up a lot more doors for him. Hopefully he is with us next year, as he is getting better.
"I was a bit worried today as he behaved so well, usually he wants to jump on everything. Hopefully he is just growing up.
"He is probably better over this trip than he was six, I'll leave it up to William to see where he goes next."
Winning jockey Hanagan added: "I just put him to sleep out the back, he relaxed lovely and just came with one nice run.
"I didn't want to try and come through them, it was getting quite tight and there was a bit of bumping going on.
"I took no chances and it suited him, he was pricking his ears at the line.
"Staying seven here opens up a lot of new options for him, he stayed the trip really well."
Richard Hannon senior indicated a trip to Turkey could be on the cards for the runner-up.
He said: "He is a horse who has had a light year, only because we have needed the right ground with him.
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Breton Rock's trainer David Simcock was delighted with the performance of the five-year-old on ground which was quicker than ideal.
He said: "He ran very well and I am perfectly happy with that. He could have done with a bit more rain, but that run sets him up for an autumn campaign. He is the Park Stakes and the Celebration Mile and we will look at races in France later on for him."
Betfred Hungerford Stakes
£150,000 added, 3yo plus, 7f, Class 1
11 ran
Going: Good to Soft (Soft in places)
| Pos | Dr | D | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | (2) | Adaay (IRE) 15/2 | P Hanagan 9-2 |
W J Haggas | 3 | |
| 2nd | (13) | ½ | Coulsty (IRE) 10/1 | L Dettori 9-6 |
R Hannon | 4 |
| 3rd | (7) | hd | Breton Rock (IRE) 5/1 | Martin Lane 9-6 |
D M Simcock | 5 |
| 4th | (9) | 1¼ | Cable Bay (IRE) 6/1 | G Baker 9-6 |
C Hills | 4 |
| 5th | (3) | ¾ | Heaven's Guest (IRE) 7/1 | D Nolan 9-6 |
R A Fahey | 5 |
| 6th | (5) | ¾ | Markaz (IRE) 9/1 | Dane O'Neill 9-0 |
B W Hills | 3 |
| 7th | (1) | nk | Here Comes When (IRE) 11/4f | Jim Crowley 9-6 |
A M Balding | 5 |
| 8th | (11) | 3½ | Majestic Mount 50/1 | T E Durcan 9-6 |
Rod Collet | 5 |
| 9th | (15) | 6 | Windfast (IRE) 14/1 | J Fortune 9-6 |
B J Meehan | 4 |
| 10th | (16) | 4½ | That Is The Spirit 33/1 | G Lee 9-6 |
D O'Meara | 4 |
| 11th | (10) | 7 | Lincoln (IRE) 20/1 | S De Sousa 9-6 |
M R Channon | 4 |
| NR | (8) | Safety Check (IRE) 5/1 | Non Runner 9-8 |
C Appleby | 4 | |
| NR | (4) | Home Of The Brave (IRE) 5/1 | Non Runner 9-0 |
H Palmer | 3 | |
| NR | (14) | Limato (IRE) 7/1 | Non Runner 9-0 |
H Candy | 3 | |
| NR | (6) | Richard Pankhurst 7/1 | Non Runner 9-0 |
J H M Gosden | 3 | |
| NR | (12) | Tupi (IRE) 14/1 | P J Dobbs 9-0 |
R Hannon | 3 |
