Elik brings up a surprise victory in Height of Fashion Stakes – Horseracing news
Elik brought up a surprise victory in the Height of Fashion Stakes (Listed Race) at Goodwood in England on Thursday, May 23, 2013. She was not rated as the favourite to win in the event, but displayed very good stamina to land successful after a thrilling
competition.
The three-year-old filly got off to a terrible start in the race and it appeared that she would end up way down the order overall. However, the overall distance to cover was more than one mile, which gave her an opportunity to bounce back towards the final
few yards.
Although there was immense pressure on the talented runner, she gave everything in the end to cause an upset and finished on top of the table by less than one length. This was the first ever victory of her career, which would have pleased her trainer Sir
Michael Stoute.
After the race, James Savage, who is the travelling head for Stoute, stated, “She's (Elik) very well bred. We thought she was unlucky at Chester when she was slowly away. She was slow again today, which is not great, but she'll get further. Ryan Moore (jockey)
said the ground was just okay - she wants real top of the ground.”
Elik made her debut in 2012, but was unable to make a strong impression in her first season. However, things looked a lot better for her in 2013, as she started off with a runner up position in Wolverhampton. However, her fans would have hoped for more in
that event, as she was rated as the best by the bookies.
This time though, the Irish filly had a stiff competition and no one would have thought that she could finish at the front in the end.
On the other hand, Richard Hannon would have been disappointed with the outcome of the race, as his trainee Heading North was priced 5 to 2 for the event and she was expected to take a comfortable victory overall. She did lead the race for most of the time,
but ran out of gas towards the final 100 yards.
Therefore, the young filly might not be taking part in longer distance races in the future until she improves her stamina.
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