Powerful Glory winning the Champions Sprint at Ascot was fantastic. We’ve had a sticky year and I know it’s a silly thing to say, but one winner can make the world of difference and this one is fantastic for us.
We had a little problem with this colt after his first start at Haydock in the spring. We fixed that and then he needed a period of recuperation. We were always trying to get him back for this race.
We managed to get a run into him at Beverley about 25 days ago and we needed to do that. He’d had a tiny little tweak with a wind op and I always think they take a run after a procedure like that.
Five furlongs at Beverley wasn’t his cup of tea but I was very lucky that race was there to put him spot-on for this. It played a huge part in that performance today.
We knew he’d come forward a good chunk from that run. His work has been very good. Last week he did one of his better bits. You saw with how he travelled through the race today that he’d be a very good workhorse. We don’t have anything that can go with him. He’s our best horse and proved that on Saturday - and it’s great when your best horse wins a Group One.
I just thought Powerful Glory would really suit Jamie Spencer. He’s fresh and can be a bit keen but today there was a pace burnout.
Jamie put him to sleep and probably thought he was on a 200/1 shot. I didn’t overegg it beforehand, if I'd said I thought he was going to run well he’d have thought I was totally bonkers but it worked out a treat.
My phone has been buzzing away in my pocket and I need to go through all the messages but this is a great result for everyone back at home. We knew we had a good horse and things haven’t worked out for him but that has been the story of my season.
Little things have gone wrong and with Powerful Glory it has been very frustrating. But fair play to Sheikh Rashid. He’s been extremely patient, let me do what I needed to do and never complained.
When I rang him and told him I definitely wanted to run at Ascot in the Group One he was delighted and supportive. It’s great the horse has come up with the goods for him.
I’d obviously love him to stay in training next season, horses like him don’t come around very often, but he’s a valuable stallion prospect too. I’ll let the dust settle and speak to Rashid. But now is the time to enjoy today.
As I said at the start, it's a very important win for the team and a real fillip after a testing season.
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