After an incredible spell, which saw us register our ninth winner of 2026 and our fourth success in just 15 days, the excellent form continued at the end of June and into the start of July, with a winner on the South Coast followed by a gallant runner-up effort in North Yorkshire.
After a couple of good second placed efforts and an unlucky passage through the race the time before at Bath, Denby’s Dream deservedly got her head in front at Brighton on Tuesday 30th June.
In a race lacking any obvious early pace, Nicola Currie took the initiative by sending our grey filly straight to the front. She travelled enthusiastically in the lead, appearing to relish making the running, before steadily increasing the tempo throughout. Turning for home, the pair kicked on two furlongs out and maintained a strong gallop to the line, drawing away to score comfortably by a length and three-quarters. The performance earned the best speed figures in the field and suggested she has plenty more improvement to come.
After the race, jockey Nicola Currie gave us her verdict on the performance:
“We had to go for plan B. Nobody wanted to go forward so I let her go. Luckily, she pricked her ears and loved it. We went at our own pace and she relaxed beautifully. I knew turning into the straight that we would win. You’ll have a lot of fun with her going forward.”
Lord d’Or broke sharply and quickly went to the lead, where he was soon joined by second favourite North Force. The pair gradually pulled clear of the remainder, turning the race into a fascinating duel. Approaching the final two furlongs, North Force showed a smart turn of foot, with a quicker penultimate furlong perhaps proving the decisive factor. Lord d’Or briefly found himself almost a length down, but responded admirably, battling back all the way to the line. He finished strongly, recording the fastest final furlong of the race, but was just denied by a head. It was another excellent performance from our colt, who shaped as though a step up in trip would suit and looked likely to have got his head in front had the race been run over a little further. Having now finished a close second on his last two starts, he is knocking firmly on the door and looks sure to go one better before long.
After the race, jockey P J McDonald gave us his verdict on the performance:
“He has run a super race, I don’t think that horse will ever beat him again. The winner had a turn of foot, where it was taking me longer to get into top gear.I only needed another two strides and we’d have been back up. It’s disappointing he has been beaten but the horse has done nothing wrong and he will stay further. I probably should have made it more of a test and took that turn of foot away from the winner so he wouldn’t have beaten us. I promise if I rode him again in that race, the winner wouldn’t have beaten him.”
At the end of the week, on Friday 3rd July, our in-form filly Redbud Sixteen was bidding to complete a hat-trick following her impressive victories at Salisbury and Newbury. However, it appeared that a third run in just 20 days came a little too soon, and she could finish only seventh. Despite that, she remains a seriously exciting filly with a bright future ahead and will now be given a chance to recharge before being targeted at some valuable races.
