Steel Of Madrid mowed down Folkswood late on to run out a gutsy winner of the bet365 Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket.
Earl Of Sefton Result
1st Steel Of Madrid (10/1)
2nd Folkswood (5/2 fav)
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Steel Of Madrid mowed down Folkswood late on to run out a gutsy winner of the bet365 Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday.
The Richard Hannon trained four-year-old settled beautifully under Pat Dobbs and travelled well before reeling in long-time leader Folkswood, fresh from a stint in Dubai, to score by half-a-length.
William Buick nearly set the fractions perfectly on Folkswood who veered right inside the final furlong, paving the way for Steel of Madrid to pounce just before the line.
Cambridgeshire winner Spark Plug was third with Abdon running on under Frankie Dettori for fourth.
Reaction
Pat Dobbs: "We tried him over a mile and a half a few times last year. He travelled well in his races but it looked like he didn't get home. It was a good idea by the boss to drop him back in trip. He's matured a lot over the winter and strengthened up."
Richard Hannon: "We played around with his trip last year. I think he gets a mile and a half but a lot of his best form has been over this trip so we thought first run of the year, we'd let him have a go over this track and he'd won here last year. I thought Dobbsy gave him a super ride.
"He's been doing a lot of work with the Guineas horses. When they go up that sand gallop at Everleigh, they are doing a bit more than you think. This horse looks well and has been moving great."
"He has certainly got options. There is Royal Ascot. He is just a nice horse to keep in training. We have put him in that (Jockey Club Stakes) and we did look at putting him in at Newbury at the weekend. The Hardwicke is something we could look at. The way he travelled there, I thought he was more like a 6-4 shot than a 10-1 shot."
