Spicy Marg gave connections a thrill when she finished second in Group 1 company as a 50/1 shot at Royal Ascot.
Now her owner, Emma Banks, is hoping the Starspangledbanner speedster can return to winning ways in the Group 3 William Hill Summer Stakes at York Racecourse on Friday.
The Michael Bell-trained three-year-old is part of a 13-strong field of fillies and mares who are hunting the record £100,000 pot on offer for this six-furlong Knavesmire assignment.
Though she has not triumphed since last autumn, Spicy Marg could barely have come closer than in the Commonwealth Cup, losing out by a diminishing head, under Tom Marquand.
Banks said: “She put up a phenomenal performance at Ascot and it didn’t come as a massive shock to us because we thought she could be that good.
“I’m looking forward to seeing her at York. If she can run as well as she ran at Ascot, I’ll be very, very happy. She does seem to love racing. She thrives on it, she really does, so let’s keep going while we can. It’s so rare to have horses that are this good – I’m blessed.
“She’s a firm-ground horse, so while it’s going our way, we’re going to make hay while the sun is shining.”
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Banks also owned Lady Bowthorpe, who triumphed as a five-year-old mare in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
And in Spicy Marg, entered in next month’s Group 1 Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes, she now has another popular filly to take her to racing’s top festivals.
Banks, the music industry agent for a string of globally-renowned acts, said: “Spicy Marg has obviously trained on pretty well. She continues to show the promise we saw last year.
“It’s totally pinch-yourself. You dream of having horses that are any good, that can go to stakes races – or frankly that can win anything. Just winning is wonderful. I’m a fairly glass-half-full person. The second at Ascot, I know for the purist, yeah it’s not a win – but she ran so well. She was so close and it just put her on that stage properly.
“And she’s a really nice person as well. Earlier this year, I had to go to Newmarket for something else and I said to Michael, ‘Do you mind if I just pop in and see the horses I’ve got with you?’ So, I just went and stood with her and she insisted on doing a selfie! She’s just a really chilled, nice horse, who can run very, very fast.”
Banks will be at York to watch Spicy Marg race on Friday and then it’s back to business.
She said: “Saturday morning, I fly to Lisbon for work. Florence and the Machine and Lorde are both on the same festival bill."
York’s latest two-day meeting starts at 14:10 on Friday afternoon with a seven-race card. Saturday’s highlight is the 67th staging of the John Smith’s Cup.
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