A review of the action from Saturday's meeting at Haydock Park where Black Poppy landed the feature Swinton Hurdle.
Poppy gives Lee perfect start
Black Poppy (10/1) provided trainer Kerry Lee with the perfect start to the new Jump season by winning the £100,000 Pertemps Network Swinton Handicap Hurdle with a determined display at Haydock Park.
The seven year old had produced a career best performance to strike at last month’s April Meeting at Cheltenham and though this looked a stiff task under a 5lbs penalty he travelled well throughout under jockey Adam Wedge, who had him sat prominently from the outset.
Wedge won the same race with the subsequent Grade One winner Silver Streak back in 2018 and he started his move around the bend for home with Black Poppy, who showed an excellent attitude to battle to the front from after a neat jump at the last. At the line he had a length and a quarter to spare over Teddy Blue.
Tom Lee was representing his sister at Haydock Park and speaking after the race, he revealed that he was thrilled to see everything come together. He said: “I think that you’d sum this up with one word – bullseye. That’s the prize we wanted and that’s the prize that we got.
“He’s a nice horse with the right profile, the right age and crucially, patient owners who have been amazing (West Coast Haulage Limited). They have very much minded everything. If the conditions aren’t right, they won’t run and we wait and we wait. And today, everything came together.
Access to exclusive features all for FREE - No monthly subscription fee
Log in with your existing Sporting Life, Sky Bet, or Sky Games account. If you don't have any of those, it's completely FREE to register!
“I walked the track myself at 7am on Thursday morning and we had two entries in the race. It was stone wall wrong for the one lad, Nemean Lion, and it was perfect for this fella. This lad wants proper spring, good ground.
“Credit to Kirkland Tellwright (Clerk of the Course). I went in to see him afterwards and I said for a horse of this profile, literally Pablo Picasso couldn’t pull out his sketch pad and create better spring ground. Clerks get a hard time but what he has produced out there today is stunning and it has worked in our favour, thank goodness.
“This horse is a seven-year-old, he’s only got 13 runs in his life on his CV, he’s now won five times, he won his bumper first time. He’s very good in the spring and this is his time of year.
“We’ve been lucky as at the end of last season we had a 21% strike rate – 21 winners from exactly a hundred runners. We’ll start as we mean to go on and it’s a lovely prize to win so we’re grateful that everything has come together and it was a great ride from Adam Wedge. He’s deliciously uncomplicated – there was no wearing today. There’s no tongue strap, no blinkers, no visor, no nothing. We’ll go home now and reassess.
“If you think that he has won today 5lbs up from Cheltenham, where he won on 119 and he’s won here on 124, of course the handicapper will have his say but rightly so because he’s a young improving horse going the right way.”
Black Poppy has had just the one start over fences so far, finishing second behind Straw Fan Jack at Ffos Las last October, form which has gone on to work out well. And the winning jockey hinted that Black Poppy could well be tried over the larger obstacles once again in the autumn.
Wedge said: “It’s fantastic to get the season off to a good start with a victory like that. It panned out very well for me, he’s jumped the first couple a bit big and I know Kerry has said he’s been schooling over fences at home, but once he found his rhythm he was very good and quick and he’s got me into it quite nicely.
“He was very good at Cheltenham and they were keen to try and sit a bit handy around a flat course today, so it’s all worked out very well. They don’t tend to stop too much on good ground here. It was fantastic to win this race with Silver Streak (in 2018), let’s hope that this horse can go on to reach the heights that he did.”
Swinton Hurdle Day is the only remaining mixed card in the UK, with the supporting card offering some high-class action on the level.
Force to be reckoned with
The highlight was the Pertemps Network Conditions Stakes over six furlongs, a race which is regularly contested by Group performers and was won in good style this time around by the Charlie Appleby-trained Creative Force (4/6 favourite).
Godolphin’s five year old hadn’t got his nose in front since winning the 2021 Group One QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes, but he rarely looked in trouble under James Doyle today, breaking sharply and controlling matters from the front for an impressive three-length success.
That victory saw Creative Force harden into 5-1 favouritism for next month’s Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot (previously known as the Platinum Jubilee Stakes) and the winning jockey James Doyle is hopeful that his charge can enjoy a productive campaign.
He said: “I’m really pleased with him. He’s a bonny horse and he’s been a real flag bearer for us over the years. He usually comes to the fore when you need him and hopefully this is just a little stepping stone to better things.
Access to exclusive features all for FREE - No monthly subscription fee
Log in with your existing Sporting Life, Sky Bet, or Sky Games account. If you don't have any of those, it's completely FREE to register!
“Obviously he does enjoy getting his toe in but he’s still effective on quicker ground and he should be in for a good campaign, he certainly hasn’t lost his enthusiasm over the years anyways.
“I was kind of looking and it and I thought it would be a bit tactical. There were no certain leaders in the race and he’s a pretty chilled out character. I didn’t think we’d be going that quick so I said to Charlie perhaps to let him pop out and prick his ears in front and I can go whenever. With the ground drying all the time and it being over six furlongs it’s probably his minimum trip nowadays.
“I thought he just got done for a bit of speed at Newmarket, they went really slow and dashed into the dip and kind of got in a bit of a tangle out the other side so I was keen to just let him balance up and go for home.
“He’s done plenty of winning at Ascot and did me a big favour in the Jersey Stakes a couple of years ago. When the rain comes for him it’s a big plus, so we’ll just have to see, but even on quick ground he runs his race.”
Angel delight in Spring Trophy
Elsewhere on the card was the Listed Pertemps Network Spring Trophy Stakes, which saw the Ralph Beckett-trained Angel Bleu (3/1) pick up his first success since October 2021.
The four year old was a dual Group One winner as a two year old and having held some lofty company last term he was made to work hard to return to winning ways here, showing plenty of grit to see off the Andrew Balding-trained Holguin in a thrilling finish – surviving a stewards’ enquiry in the process.
And the winning jockey Hector Crouch is hopeful that his mount can kick on after getting his nose back in front. He said: “He was very tough. It was probably a furlong short of his best here today, he’s won Group One races at a mile, so it was great to get back on track.
“He’s had a tough couple of years since his very busy and successful juvenile career and this is a step back to where we know we can be. He’s a funny horse and he can take a bit of winding up sometimes. He needed that today but it’s just nice to get him back in front.”
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 / GamCareon 0808 8020 133.
We are committed to Safer Gambling and have a number of self-help tools to help you manage your gambling. We also work with a number of independent charitable organisations who can offer help and answers any questions you may have.
