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Can Harry Angel fly the flag for
Godolphin at Royal
Ascot? |
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The Godolphin team spear
headed by the Appleby operation have certainly made a flying start to the
current campaign. There is no doubt they will be looking to challenge
Ballydoyle in many of the Group 1’s throughout the season. They have in
recent years struggled to have that real star horse to fly the flag but this
looks to have changed. Harry Angel returned this week with a stunning victory
in the Group 2 Duke of York. He was very restless in the stalls and shot out of
the gate. Kirby settled him in slightly off the pace but took up the running
from two out and cleared away. This was a real eye catching performance and one
that firmly stamps him down as the one to beat throughout the year in the
division.
The 4 year old trained by a master of sprinters in Clive Cox
has already gathered over £600,000 in prize money following contesting
many of the major sprint races in previous seasons. His career record to date
stands at five victories from his nine starts while also finishing second in
three of the other starts. This shows the consistency of the horse at the top
level.
He started last season with a tall reputation following a high
class victory in the Mill Reef where he defeated a top class Group 2 field with
ease by over two lengths on his final start of his two year old season. Harry
Angel started his three year old campaign with defeat behind the Godolphin
trained Blue Point. This was a performance where he clearly should have won if
able to settle and rather threw the race away. In addition he was also giving
away a four pound penalty to the winner. Harry was then pitched into another
Group 2 at Haydock. This was the Sandy lane stakes and he was sent off at a
shade of odds on. This was an incredible performance where he defeated a top
class field by over four lengths and in the process stamping himself as a
champion in waiting.
His next start was in the big one at Royal Ascot in
the Commonwealth Cup. The Group 1 was stacked with talent but he again ran far
too keen having been pestered for the lead through out from the Ballydoyle
pacemaker. This resulted in him being picked up in the final furlong by another
star in Caravaggio. Harry was then sent to the July cup at Newmarket and
completely turned the form around shooting clear to win very impressively over
the likes of Limato. His trainer was hailing him as the horse of a life time
with so much ability. Another jaw dropping performance followed in the Sprint
Cup at Haydock where he cleared away to win by over four lengths. This firmly
stamped the horse as one of the greatest sprinters we have seen for a long
time. Winning these competitive sprints by several lengths is usually unheard
of.
Harry Angel’s final start of the season was a disappointing
one on Champions day. There were several excuses however with him again
struggling to settle and in addition with the very soft ground. This was the
end of a long season for the horse so this was clearly a race to forget. He is
clearly the top current sprinter in training and one to really look forward to
this season. His main target of the year is likely to be the Diamond Jubilee
stakes at Royal Ascot and if he brings his top form again to the table then he
is without a doubt the most likely winner. You can
have a
bet on Royal Ascot and Star Sports currently make him 3/1 to go on and land
the big one in a few weeks time. |
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