It was a very exciting day on Saturday (2nd September) as three-year-old Kerdos ran to victory over five furlongs in the Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes, landing the team a consecutive win as we celebrate success with this race for the third year in a row. On his ninth career start and now third win, this occasion was marked with further impact as Kerdos is the first winning three-year-old to take home this title in thirteen years.
Having shown promising and progressive form throughout the season, with multiple frame finishes including a very classy second place at this year’s 3yo Holyroodhouse Stakes Handicap at Royal Ascot, we were delighted that after further fine-tuning everything came together on the day – with both the race and track conditions playing to his strengths. At the hands of Ben Curtis, the colt was in touch with early leaders but the pair massively conquered ground when daylight opened up with one furlong from home. Closing stages saw him impressively storm to the line, racing from fourth position into first; winning by half a length and beautifully showcasing his talent for sprinting. We were delighted with this outcome for his owners, John Connolly and Alan Spence. He holds an entry in the Prix de L’Abbaye in France next month and has even more potential to look forward to beyond this year.
Racing alongside Kerdos on the day was stable favourite, Tis Marvellous, who finished in a remarkable fourth place and beaten only a length. The nine-year-old is a former back-to-back champion of the Beverley Bullet, having won the past two years in a row whilst setting a course record, so it seemed only fitting we brought him back to this track for his final racecourse appearance.
Tis Marvellous has been a wonderful horse to train and it has been extremely special to play our part in his racing career. A nine-time sprint winner, his highlights include: the Group 2 Robert Papin as a juvenile, two victories in the Shergar Cup Dash and the Beverley Bullet, and a listed win in the Rous Stakes. Track records were also broken at both Beverley and Maisons-Laffitte. Not only one to showcase his talent on the course, he has also been instrumental at home in the training of some of our most recognised horses, such as Harry Angel and Profitable. He has been a brilliant character to have as part of our yard over the past seven years and a great servant to his owning connections, Julie Deadman and Stephen Barrow. We are all delighted he will now enjoy his well-deserved retirement with Amy Dickens, who has looked after him since day one.
