All-Weather Championships Finals Day: Review, reaction and replays

Star Storms to Mile success

Progressive four-year-old Storm Star (5/2 f) completed a hat-trick of course and distance victories this season with a determined display in the BetMGM All-Weather Championships Mile Handicap.

Trained by Andrew Balding for owner/breeder Jeff Smith, the Group One Lockinge Stakes entry was bidding to follow up wins on New Year’s Day and AWC Trials Day in January, with the latter making the Night Of Thunder colt eligible for a £15,000 bonus here.

Prominent throughout, Storm Star stalked pace-setter Valiant Force before hitting the front for Jason Watson passing the two-furlong pole. Roi De France (4/1) emerged as a big danger entering the final furlong, with Storm Star finding more to cross the line a length and a quarter in front. Apiarist (18/1), who had finished behind Storm Star at Newcastle twice already this season, was a neck further back in third.

Storm Star was completing a double on the card for the Kingsclere team.

Watson said: “You look at Storm Star’s form at this track and, overall, he is very consistent. He is from a great family, by Night Of Thunder, and we know what Jeff Smith can produce. The family has done so well for him over the years and this is another great example. I think Storm Star thrives on being ridden prominently, which was obviously my instructions today from the boss. The horse has a very game way of going about things. He picked up really nicely and I struggled to pull him up.

“He is going to progress even more this year. I am very happy for Jeff Smith and the team at home, because they have done a great job with him. It is brilliant to have a big winner like this today.”

Anna Lisa Balding said: “I am absolutely delighted. Storm Star is a real yard favourite and it is great training these kinds of horses for Jeff Smith. I have to say that normally you would be worried to see Oisin [Murphy, rider of the runner-up] on your girth at the furlong pole but, knowing what Storm Star is like, he has kicked and gone clear of them.

“Seeing Jason and Oisin in a finish, normally we would want Oisin, but today it was great to have Jason. He is a great jockey and it is lovely having him back at Kingsclere riding for us regularly. This race has been a long-term plan – I think Storm Star was our first winner of 2025 – and Andrew has been working backwards from today. I hope we haven’t seen the best of him yet, as I think he is going to carry on improving. I know he has a Lockinge entry, a speculative one, yes, but who knows. He has a huge heart and we are lucky to have him.”

Whisper continues Kingsclere domination

Earlier the Balding team secured a third straight victory in the BetMGM All-Weather 3 Year Old Championships Handicap with Berkshire Whisper, who justified 9/2 favouritism with a decisive win.

In a race that produced plenty of hard-luck stories, Oisin Murphy kept things simple on the Dark Angel colt as he raced handily down the stands’ rail. A host of horses looked to hold chances with a furlong and a half to race until Berkshire Whisper took command entering the final half-furlong and quickened away to score by a cosy length and a quarter.

Master Technician (18/1) and Cyclonite (14/1) claimed the places in a bunch finish for the minor honours, with fourth Tuco Salamanca one of several horses to meet trouble in running.

Murphy said: “Berkshire Whisper is a very straightforward horse. He is learning on the job and getting more impressive with each start. He only beat three runners last time and today he was against hardened handicappers but he rose to the task. I was able to fill up and he went through the line well. He has a lot of size and we hope he can progress. Paul Spickett is a lucky owner – Andrew trained a Coventry Stakes winner for him, and I am sure he would like another Royal Ascot winner.”

Winning owner Spickett said: “It is amazing, absolutely amazing. Berkshire Whisper is a brilliant horse and he deserved that. I am over the moon, and Oisin gave him a peach of a ride.

When asked about the future, he said: “What do you think? It has got to be top hat and tails, hasn’t it? Got to be. The Commonwealth Cup has to be on the agenda. Andrew is amazing and the family is amazing. All the guys and girls at Kingsclere look after me very well, so the horses won’t be going anywhere else.”

Anna Lisa Balding said: “It is always difficult to have three in the same race, but all three have run blooming well, and to win it for Paul Spickett is wonderful. Berkshire Whisper is an improving horse. He is a little bit quirky – as you probably saw earlier, he wasn’t an easy lead around – so it makes it even more rewarding. We shall see how he is tomorrow, but Royal Ascot is always a dream, so fingers crossed.”

Brave Salamanca takes Classic

Salamanca (14/1) made most of the running to bravely deny a fast-finishing Old Harrovian (6/4f) and Charlotte’s Web (10/1) in a thrilling finish to the BetUK Easter Classic.

Despite being handed a wide draw in stall 12, David Egan was able to angle over on Salamanca to establish a length and a half lead over Penzance and Glen Buck after the first furlong. Salamanca increased the tempo in the straight and saw off the challenge of Penzance entering the final furlong, with BetMGM Winter Oaks winner Charlotte’s Web moving up to dispute the lead shortly after.

Old Harrovian flashed home from the rear, getting to within a neck of the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained winner at the line. Charlotte’s Web took third, a further short-head in arrears, as the front three finished clear of fourth home Paradias.

Chapple-Hyam said: “This has been a six-month plan for Salamanca. When you get a wide draw, your six months of planning looks like it is all down the gurgler, as I said to Mr Harris [owner] before the race! David has given him a beautiful ride. He clocked it properly in his head. We are thrilled that we have seen the horse we have always believed in.

“I am very grateful to Mr Harris, and very happy for him and all the team back at Abingdon Place. Everyone at home – Jonny Peate in particular, give a word for him, and Salvatori, who looks after him.”

Egan said: “It is great to get a winner for Jane and Mr Harris. They are big supporters of mine, besides Amo Racing, and it is nice to repay their faith with a big winner like that. Jane is a very good trainer for making a plan and having a long-term goal. She has a stable of lovely horses, and it is a privilege to ride for her when I can. Salamanca was quite fresh going down to the start and I did not see a whole lot of pace on so, when he jumped so well from a wide draw, I elected to go forward and sit and hold for the first couple of furlongs. I kept getting it easier and easier in front. I felt I went pretty sedate fractions for the first half of the race.

“When he was challenged in the straight, he was able to keep finding little by little and has hit the line strong. I ended up at the mile and a quarter start again, so he has done a good lap of honour!

“Salamanca is a horse with a lot of ability. He is very well bred, out of a very good filly. We have always thought a lot of him and he always worked really well in the early part of his career. It is nice to see him win a big one.”

Stop edges Sprint thriller

We Never Stop (14/1) edged out Run Boy Run (7/1) in a photo finish as the duo dominated a classy field in the BetUK All-Weather Sprint Handicap.

In a contest where it paid to be up with the pace, We Never Stop was quickly into his stride from stall two, with Shane Gray able to tack over towards the stands’ side to settle in a close second behind Run Boy Run.

The front two went clear a furlong and a half from home, with We Never Stop opening up a slender advantage entering the final furlong. Run Boy Run rallied strongly in the closing strides, with the Kevin Ryan-trained We Never Stop clinging on by a head.

Top-weight Marshman (3/1f), who was bidding to defy a mark of 110, ran an admirable race to go down by a length and a quarter in third.

Gray said: “We Never Stop did not have the best of draws from stall two, but he has such a high cruising speed that I was able to get him up there, keep him away from horses, and he was nice and relaxed. For the first half of the race, I was able to move up to the eventual second and it was a good battle between them. I am glad he came out on top.

“There is a tail wind now, but the key to him is the first half of the race and getting him switched off. He got into a nice rhythm and, after that, is very genuine. He is a grand horse.”

Legend maintains family honour

Glittering Legend (9/2) emulated his half-brother Megallan with victory in the Listed BetMGM Burradon Stakes as he gamely denied Bowmark in the opening race of Newcastle’s Finals Day card.

The most experienced of the six runners with five starts under his belt, Glittering Legend was steadied towards the rear of the field by Daniel Muscutt, who produced the son of Too Darn Hot with two furlongs remaining.

Bowmark quickened down the centre of the course to hit the front a furlong and a half out, although the 6/4 favourite was collared by Glittering Legend approaching the final half-furlong.

Glittering Legend asserted in the closing strides to prevail by a neck and provide trainer James Fanshawe with a first Finals Day success. The front two pulled a length and three-quarters ahead of third home Royal Playwright.

Fanshawe said: "I am absolutely delighted – Glittering Legend is a star horse. Mark McStay bought him at the Somerville Sale. He was very naughty to begin with but, now he is getting it together, he is a really useful three-year-old. I told Dan to get some cover because we thought there would be some pace, but it looked like in front they were controlling it – it didn’t look like they were going that quick. He is tough, experienced, and that probably stood him in good stead today.

“He came there travelling beautifully and I just hoped he’d seen the Gosden horse up the middle. That’s the thing in these sorts of races at this time of year, you don’t know what you are taking on. I think it was quite a way back to the third as well. The question now is whether we step him up to a mile and a quarter. I’ll speak to Mr Ho his owner and we’ll come up with a plan from there, but I would say he will end up at Royal Ascot.”

Muscutt said: “Glittering Legend was taking on some fairly talked-up rivals, but we were bullish about this horse. He is plenty streetwise enough and I think that counted for a lot. I probably had the cleanest run of the whole race, just in behind the speed. He had to work in between horses and challenge on the right part of the track, and he hit the line good.

“He is not a slow miler by any stretch of the imagination – he has a good turn of foot, especially in a decent-run mile. He has many gears but, given how he hit the line and galloped out, going further would be an option further down the line.”

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