News

Starspangled Second

22nd Aug 2010

Racenet - Tara Madgwick - Saturday, 21 August 2010

Champion Aussie bred sprinter Starspangledbanner had to settle for second place overnight in the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes at York with a rank outsider in 100-1 shot Sole Power denying him victory in the five furlong sprint.

Brilliant in winning the Group One Golden Jubilee Stakes and July Cup at six furlongs, the Aidan O’Brien trained Starspangledbanner found the drop back to the shorter distance against him after drawing the outside.

By the halfway mark he had drifted to the rear and despite making good ground could not catch Sole Power (pictured courtesy UK Racing Post) going down by a length and a quarter.

In the aftermath, jockey Johnny Murtagh admitted Starspangledbanner probably wanted another furlong, while trainer Aidan O'Brien said: "He was coming and coming, we know he's a very classy horse and Johnny [Murtagh] said perhaps he would have preferred to have been drawn more towards the middle."

UK Racing Post Assessment - While it´s a shame that Fleeting Spirit was a late defection due to the quick ground, the Group 1 Nunthorpe was still the most anticipated race of this year's Ebor meeting.

Her absence left the race with four previous winners at the top level and there were two previous winners of this race lining up, Borderlescott and Kingsgate Native.

With the first pair from the July Cup also re-opposing it looked a strong renewal. The draw was of marked importance thanks to the strong bias towards the nearside of thestraight during previous races this week, and those berthed high were expected to be at a significant advantage. With the stalls being on the far side, though, it wasn´t surprising to see them race mainly down the middle of the track and they went off ata searching gallop thanks to the front-running Rose Blossom, which saw most get caught flat-footed. The race was also run in a strong tailwind.

It proved to be a messy race and there was a massive upset with the 100/1 outsider SOLE POWER striking another blow for the Classic generation this season, and he came home a ready winner. Restrained early on, he made smooth headway from halfway and took it up going powerfully 1f out. He was briefly threatened by the strong-finishing Starspangledbanner, but he was always doing enough and looked to have a little up his sleeve at the finish.

Starspangledbanner's progression since he made his British debut over this C&D in May has been fantastic and he once again proved very popular on this drop back from 6f. He was drawn on the outside in stall 13 and, racing alone towards the nearside, got markedly outpaced through the early parts. He showed his class when finishing strongly inside the final furlong, but the winner was gone beyond recall. Ultimately dropping back to this quick 5f found him out, but he probably wasn´t helped by racing where he did and he continues as Europe´s leading sprinter.

The Edward Lynam-trained, Wayne Lordan-ridden Sole Power, a three year-old gelding by the Pivotal sire Kyllachy, had never won a race away from the polytrack at Dundalk, his victory here considered the biggest upset of the English flat racing season.

Raced by Mrs Sabina Powers, the mother of bookmaker Paddy Powers, Sole Power joins past winners Oasis Dream and Mozart as the only three year-old winners of this race in the past decade.

Stakes placed in Listed company once previously and fourth in a Group Three at Newmarket, Sole Power is the first stakes-winner for his dam Demerger, who comes from the family of US Group Two winner Tychonic.

If there is any consolation from his win for the Coolmore connections of Starspangledbanner it is that Sole Power is by a son of champion sire Pivotal, whose best son to date Excellent Art (GB) is standing for them in Australia this spring where he is the only son of Pivotal at stud.