Summerghand is on top in the Unibet Stewards' Cup
Summerghand is on top in the Unibet Stewards' Cup

Unibet Stewards' Cup report: Summerghand claims deserved win


David O'Meara landed his second big handicap of the Qatar Goodwood Festival when Summerghand (22/1) won the Unibet Stewards' Cup in the final strides.

It was a deserved big-race success for the six-year-old after a string of near-misses in these contests and he thundered home under Danny Tudhope to reel-in Kimifive (11/1) and Cieren Fallon.

The trainer was on target in Friday's Unibet Golden Mile with Prompting.

Richard Fahey's Brian The Snail (66/1) ran a huge race in third with Swindler (12/1) on his best behaviour in fourth.

Click the image to watch the free video replay
Click the image to watch the free video replay

"He's a tricky horse to win with and things need to fall right. There was loads of pace around me and I had plenty to aim at and the gaps opened up in front of me," said the winning rider.

"I wasn't sure I'd had won when I saw the horse on the far side but luckily we got there."

The winner carried top-weight of 9st 10lb and Betfair and Paddy Power introduced him into their Haydock Sprint Cup market at 25/1.

Danny Tudhope celebrates on Summerghand
Danny Tudhope celebrates on Summerghand

O’Meara said: “I didn’t think he could win off top-weight. We got beat a nose in the Wokingham when we felt we could have won.

“Since then I ran him in a little race at Pontefract. I spoke to Bruce Raymond (owner’s racing manager) and asked him if he thought I was compromising my chances of winning a big one by going for a small race and incurring a handicap rise, but he told me to kick on and give the horse a bit of confidence and he was right.

“He’s class and he’s hit the woodwork in so many big races. He deserved to win one and the owners have been huge supporters of mine for some years now, so I’m delighted the horse has repaid them. They are incredibly excited about him.

“I put cheekpieces on him just to try and eke a bit more out. It’s not that the horse is ungenuine, but it’s a sharp six and I just wanted him to travel a bit better.

“I’d love to try to win the Ayr Gold Cup with him if I didn’t think he was too badly handicapped. I won it before with Louis The Pious (in 2014) and I’d love to win it with him.”

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