Haydock Park reports and free videos replays as Believing wins Achilles Stakes

Queen Of The Pride does her parents proud at Haydock

Queen Of The Pride understandably means a lot to her connections, so the fact she landed her first Group race in the Betfred Nifty 50 Lester Piggott Fillies’ Stakes at Haydock brought a great sense of satisfaction.

She wears the maroon colours of owner Sheikh Fahad’s Qatar Racing, as did both her sire Roaring Lion and dam Simple Verse.

Roaring Lion was undoubtedly the best to carry the Qatar silks to date and just like Queen Of The Pride (9/2) he was trained at Clarehaven Stables in Newmarket.

At the time John Gosden was the only name on the licence, ably assisted by his son Thady, who now shares the main role.

Second in Listed company at Goodwood when showing signs of greenness for Robert Havlin, she was much more tractable this time under Oisin Murphy, who guided her to a short-head win over the fast-finishing Lady Boba.

Murphy said: “Both her parents were Group One winners so she means a lot to us.

“She’s obviously been slow to come to hand, but she’s been looked after and now we are reaping the rewards.

“She was definitely more straightforward today. It’s only her fourth run after all. Rab said he thought she’d go very well today in a race with more pace on and nicer ground, less hard work.

“She was really easy to ride and I love the way she finished and galloped out.”

He went on: “I think she’ll get further, but whether she needs to go further than a mile and a half I don’t know yet.

“When I was pulling up I was thinking of the Prix de Royallieu, the mile and six race on Arc weekend might be for her but I’m sure John, Thady and Sheikh Fahad can think about that.”

The William Haggas-trained Sea Theme could finish only fourth as the handler aimed to win the race named after his late father-in-law for the third successive year.

Believing blitzes Achilles Stakes field at Haydock

Believing posted a commanding performance to win the Betfred Passionate About Sport Achilles Stakes at Haydock.

All eyes were on 5/4 favourite Live In The Dream, winner of the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes last season, but it was the George Boughey-trained 5/1 shot Believing who proved the class act on the day.

Settled in behind by Danny Tudhope as Live In The Dream blazed an early trail with Democracy Dilemma, Believing was travelling incredibly well with a couple of furlongs to run and when shot to the front when asked.

Believing extended away to post a comfortable victory over Commanche Falls in the five-furlong dash, with Korker keeping on for third place and Live In The Dream only fifth.

The Highclere Thoroughbred Racing-owned winner was last seen when disappointing in Hong Kong and Boughey was delighted to see her back to her best on quicker ground.

“That was very impressive,” he said.

“I was really disappointed after Hong Kong when nothing really went right for her, but the key to her is good ground.

“There was a strong headwind today and the favourite was running into the teeth of it, but we weren’t sat that far behind.”

Believing is now a 12/1 chance from 33s for the five-furlong King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot, and 16/1 from 25/1 for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes over six furlongs.

The King Charles on day one is her primary target, but Boughey would not be opposed to shooting for both.

“She’ll definitely run in the five-furlong race,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if she also ran on the Saturday over six as well.

“She’s a very easy filly to train so if she’s OK after Tuesday’s race, she could then run on the Saturday.”

Tudhope was impressed with the winner, adding: “They went quite hard up front and there was a strong headwind, but I was able to get a nice bit of cover from the wind.

“She travelled super and she did it quite easy. She’s a good filly on her day.

“I won on her at Pontefract over six furlongs and she did it easily that day as well. She’s versatile, but she’s getting better and a lot quicker as well.

“There’s some lovely races for her to target and George is doing a great job with her.”

Live In The Dream weakened into fifth at the line and his owner Steve de’Lemos was struggling to figure out what he had just witnessed.

“I’m shocked and can’t believe he’s run that badly,” he said.

“Maybe it’s a bit of a City Of Troy moment in the Guineas. He was a short-priced favourite and he was stuffed.

“He’s been doing some great work at home and we feel he’s matured and is a better horse than last year. Everything was perfect.

“The only thing against us today was a 40mph headwind, but nobody really slipstreamed him. He did peck as he came out the stalls, so I don’t know if he’s hurt himself.

“There’s something not right, but Adam (West, trainer) will get to the bottom of it.”

Iron Lion enters Ebor reckoning

Iron Lion may have a crack at the Ebor in his sights having impressed in the Betfred ‘Play Fred’s £5 Million’ Handicap at Haydock.

Trained by David O’Meara, the lightly-raced four-year-old travelled beautifully for Jamie Spencer before quickening up in fine style on his way to a one-length win.

Charlie Johnston’s Knightswood could be considered slightly unfortunate, however, as he was all dressed up with nowhere to go for the majority of the final two furlongs before finally getting a run all too late behind the 5/1 winner.

Iron Lion is owned by Elwick Stud, whose stud manager Gary Moore said: “He’s got quite a knee action and he really appreciated the rain that fell overnight.

“Good ground is good enough for him and we might think about the Ebor now. Jamie said he’ll stay so we might go to Melbourne! We’ll see what David says, he’s the trainer.

“He’s a nice horse, a real fine, big stamp. His sister (Lava Stream) runs tomorrow in a Listed race at Goodwood so that would be a nice family double.

“We’ve got 40 mares on 300 acres just between Durham and Newcastle. There are not many better jobs when you have days like this.”

More from Sporting Life

• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.