Sole Power takes victory in King's Stand Stakes – Horseracing News
Sole Power proved to be too good for his rivals in the King's Stand Stakes (Group 1) at Royal Ascot. He was not rated as the favourite to succeed, but surprised one and all with his brisk run.
There were a total of 19 runners, who started the race and all of them focussed on speed right from the start, as the overall distance to cover was just five furlongs. However, the winning stallion was unable to push hard once
the traps were opened because of the fact that he got held up by some of the slower runners.
Despite that, the six-year-old gelding made a superb comeback towards the final moments of the event. He came into the lead inside the final furlong and it was clear that no one would catch him from that point onwards.
The winning rider Johnny Murtagh was ecstatic with the outcome of the race and said, “It is a brilliant meeting. As a jockey this is where you want to be performing - to ride good horses for great people. I get on well with him
and I know what he likes. He's got a great turn of foot and is very willing.”
Although Sole Power does not have a good career strike rate, his performances in the ongoing season have been really impressive. His owners would definitely want him to continue the positive trend this year but they should give
him some res before running him in another competitive race.
On the other hand, Shea Shea’s fans would have been dejected with the result of the King's Stand Stakes. He was the favourite to succeed in that event and even the punters gambled the most number of bets on him. Despite that, he
could only manage a runner up spot in the end.
His camp was pleased with the result though and his trainer Mike de Kock stated, “I'm very proud of him and I suppose second is better than third! He was beaten by a pretty decent horse and I think he acquitted himself well but
things didn't go exactly as we wanted them and in a race like that a head here and a neck there can make all the difference.”
It will be interesting to see where Shea Shea will go after this. There are still quite a few important races left in the season and he will have to train hard to be able to deliver positive results.
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