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Dewhurst still an option for Vandeek

3 minute read

Vandeek could return to the Rowley Mile for the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes in mid-October.

VANDEEK (C, yellow/black cap) winning the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in England.
VANDEEK (C, yellow/black cap) winning the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in England. Picture: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

The son of Havana Grey completed a Group 1 double when recording an emphatic victory in the six-furlong Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday, which followed his Prix Morny success in August over the same trip.

Ridden by James Doyle, Vandeek was slowly away in the Middle Park and was forced to switch left to find room. Once the colt hit the front at the one furlong marker, he kicked clear in impressive fashion to beat Task Force by two-and-a-quarter lengths.

"Up to that point he'd only ever run on soft ground and it had to be seen if he could handle the quicker conditions as well, but actually I think he handled them better," said KHK Racing's manager, Chris Wall.

"It was a really classy performance and a credit to the Crisfords to have him teed up and ready to go on the day having not run since the middle of August.

"They hadn't gone particularly quickly by halfway, visually they didn't look to be going as strong a gallop as you might expect in a Group One race.

"The field then quickened in front of him and he's just shot away from them, it goes to show the raw natural speed that he possesses."

"He has the most remarkable temperament, most two-year-old sprinting colts would tend to be a bit buzzy and electric but he's the very opposite of that," Wall added.

"He walks around half asleep most of the time, Andrea Atzeni rode him in Deauville and he warned James Doyle about him. He said 'the only thing you have to worry about is that you don't let him fall asleep and fall on his head cantering to the start'.

"He has an engagement in the Dewhurst but I think nobody is going to commit to that until nearer the time when we can see how the horse is, what the opposition will be, all the usual things. We're not ruling anything out at this stage."

Vandeek is currently the 4/1 second favourite behind Aidan O'Brien's City Of Troy for the Dewhurst Stakes on 14 October.


Racing and Sports

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