Thursday 1st October
Akmal - winner of the Directa Signs Noel Murless Stakes. Picture: Chris Bourchier.
SIR Parky served up a 33/1 stunner in the Somerville Tattersall Stakes on the opening day of the Cambridgeshire meeting.
Trainer Richard Hannon’s two-year-old was all but ignored for the 7f Group 3 contest but proceeded to blitz his rivals thanks to a quality ride from Richard Hughes.
The jockey, completing a double on the day for himself and Hannon, ensured his mount was swiftly out of the stalls and made every yard - despite hanging markedly to the right to the extent he ended up on the far rail.
He passed the line with half a length to spare from the game Sebastian Flyte with Mata Keranjang held in third.
Hughes said: “I always ride him from the front and he kills horses that way - gallops them into the ground.
"I didn't like him at the start of the year but he has grown on me and is very tough.
"He was drifting a bit but I was out there on my own so I let him drift as I didn't want to disturb his momentum.”
Hughes had earlier ridden successfully from the front on Rum King in the Weatherbys Maiden.
But he wasn’t the only jockey to show supreme judgement at the head of affairs as Richard Hills never saw a rival in landing the Directa Signs Noel Murless Stakes aboard Akmal.
Trainer John Dunlop’s charge has been in cracking form this summer and he made it three wins on the bounce in the 1m 6f Listed event.
Hills gradually wound up the gallop and in the end it was a one-two for owner Hamdan Al Maktoum as his Nehaam got the better of the favourite Manifest to finish three parts of a length behind the 3/1 shot Akmal.
The other Listed race - the Newsells Park Stud ‘Golden Bonus’ Rous Stakes - went the way of Spin Cycle.
The Bryan Smart-trained three-year-old came with a late rattle on the far side to edge the favourite Noble Storm by a neck.
Winning jockey Richard Mullen said of the 7/1 chance: “He has run some great races through the year, but it is hard for these three-year-olds. Everything was in his favour today. He got the fast pace he needs, the quick ground he likes and is one to look forward to next year as a four-year-old."
On a day when there were several contenders for top ride, Kieren Fallon probably just edged it with the concerted effort he displayed on Sea Of Leaves, who got up late to collar Bounty Box in the European Breeders’ Fund Fillies’ handicap.
Fallon said: “She is as tough as nails and I knew I was going to win when the gap came.”
In the opening EBF Buy A Racing Post Yearling Bonus Candidate Maiden Stakes, 6/5 favourite Fareej mastered the newcomer William Van Gogh late on in the 1m event.
Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said of the winner: "He is still green and babyish, and will learn a lot for the race. He could have one more run this year as he needs to learn more and we will then take him to Dubai. He shows plenty of speed in the morning but will be a horse for a mile and a half next year."
The final race on the card, the Racing UK Sky 432 handicap went the way of Proponent to send favourites’ backers home happy. The 7/2 shot always had the late thrust of Legislate covered.
The second day of the Cambridgeshire meeting gets underway at 1.25pm.