Winter Power puts Nunthorpe rivals to the sword
They came from far and wide for yesterday’s Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, but it went to a local when Tim Easterby, whose family has been synonymous with racing in Yorkshire for three quarters of a century, sent out Winter Power to land the summer’s most prestigious sprint.
Yesterday the only horse fast enough to head her was the blisteringly quick American-trained favourite Golden Pal, but at halfway even he was struggling to lay up, and that pair apart, only the eventual third, Dragon Symbol, could ever hang on to their coat-tails. Golden Pal eventually faded and it was left to Emaraaty Ana to chase home the winner.
Easterby, whose uncle Mick won the race 45 years ago with Lochnager, said no winner had given him so much pleasure since Sea Pigeon, which he rode work for his father Peter, won the Champion Hurdle in 1980 and ’81.
“She’s a superstar,” he said. “I told Silvestre [de Sousa] to come out of the stalls and just go straight. She’s a machine – it’s not just York (where she is three wins from four starts). She’s taken a long time to come right and you’ve got to be patient. I don’t train her hard and that’s the hardest thing with horses like these.”
“She jumps in fifth gear,” De Sousa said. “It was a fast race.”
Racing has been blighted lately by small fields, but Stradivarius and Spanish Mission, who comprised half the field for the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup, proved you only need two horses to make a great race. They were locked in combat through the final two furlongs. Stradivarius, one of the alltime great stayers, was headed twice inside the final furlong, but two strides out he lunged for the line to take the honours by a head.
“It wasn’t the pace he likes, he loves a good one to run at, so it was always going to be fascinating,” said John Gosden, his trainer. “He’s phenomenal – to have won four Goodwood Cups, three Ascot Gold Cups, three Lonsdales, two Yorkshire Cups, a Doncaster Cup… all those miles of racing, let alone training. Full marks to him.
“I’ve always thought a Flat horse was at their peak at five, but some of the great jumpers race on at eight, nine and 10, and I’ve always said it’s not our decision – as long as he’s enjoying his training and racing and very enthusiastic – which he is.
“As long as he’s got all of that, fine, we’ll keep racing. The moment it seems to be fading we will stop.”
Jockey Frankie Dettori said: “[Spanish Mission] passed me twice and the second time I thought, ‘He’s not going do it today’, but I swear he knows where the line is here. Did you see the reception he got? I was nearly choking – it was great. What a horse race.”