Tribune News Network
Doha
The blue, gold and red silks of Wathnan Racing were first past the post in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes (Group 1) (British Champions Series) at Ascot on Saturday.
Kind Of Blue (Blue Point) put in a career-best performance to take a decisive victory in this 6-furlong (1,200m) dash.
The progressive 3-year-old colt, who is trained by James Fanshawe, cemented his position as one of the most exciting young sprinters in Europe. He has shown rapid improvement with each race and finished second on his latest start in the Gr1 Haydock Sprint Cup, after which he was purchased by Wathnan Racing, repaying his new owners with an empathic Gr1 win!
Twenty of the leading sprinters lined up in this end-of-season showdown. Under James Doyle, Kind Of Blue sat towards the centre of track around mid-way down the back.
As they approached the half-way point, Doyle let his mount ease wide to get space and let the colt use his big action to the best of his ability. He hit the front line with just under two furlongs to run, still travelling strongly under a confident Doyle. There was still all to race for in the final furlong, but Kind Of Blue showed great determination to hold on to his lead to the line, winning by a head in front of Swingalong (Showcasing), with Flora of Bermuda (Dark Angel) a next further back in third.
The winning jockey, after the race, said: "He’s improved with every race and there’s no better man than James Fanshawe to prepare a Champion Sprint winner here!
"There is a superb team at Wathnan Racing, including Richard Brown who has sourced these horses. We’ve had a few near misses in big races this season, so to win an important Group 1 like this is fantastic.”
Kind Of Blue was bred by Michelle Morris & Jan & Peter Hopper and he is out of their Compton Place mare Blues Sister. His dam is a half-sister to another winner of this race, The Tin Man (Equiano), who won the 2016 edition and was also trained by James Fanshawe.