Sky Sports Racing presenter Alex Hammond reflects on high-profile wins for Scandinavia and Revival Power at Doncaster before looking ahead at what’s to come this weekend.
The weather threw just about everything it could at you at Doncaster last week – what were your highlights on the track?
The weather was wild. It didn’t dampen the spirits though and the four days at Donny were thoroughly enjoyable.
I’ll whizz through the days in chronological order and on Thursday Aylin’s win in the May Hill looked noteworthy. Her trainer Karl Burke is enjoying an excellent season once again as he approaches the 100 winner mark for 2025 and he bagged another four smart contests at Donny and in Ireland in the week, this being the first of those. She was emulating Laurens and Darnation who both won this race for the trainer. Laurens went on to win the Fillies’ Mile and Darnation ran in the Prix Marcel Boussac and she will run in either one of those Group 1 contests next.
There’s only one contestant in the competition to be Friday’s highlight and that was the win of Revival Power in the Flying Childers. It was a wow moment when the Tim Easterby trained juvenile scooted further clear of her rivals to beat the Aidan O’Brien trained Kansas more convincingly than the length and a half verdict would suggest in the Group 2.
She’s a full sister to the stable’s Nunthorpe winner Winter Power but she’s a more straightforward horse than her sibling who was a fiery character. She could be supplemented into the Prix de l’Abbaye at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend and at a time when there isn’t a standout top level sprinter that world could be her oyster next season.
No contest for Saturday’s highlight, that was the Betfred St Leger itself.
More on that in a moment but Jim Goldie deserves a mention for landing another extremely competitive Portland Handicap, his third in the past four years. Eternal Sunshine was a real Goldie production, having been bred by the trainer. Her sire Orientor (who was 8th in this race), dam Eternal Instinct, and the grandam Glenhurich, were also trained by the Scot. It was a career high for apprentice Lauren Young who was as cool as a cucumber and kept things simple on the mare. All thirteen of Young’s career successes have come for boss Goldie and her 7lbs claim was crucial.
How much did you enjoy the Betfred St Leger?
It was one of those moments that you were reminded why you love horseracing. The roar from the 27,000-strong South Yorkshire crowd was phenomenal. I’ve never heard anything like it, even when Oasis walked back on stage in Cardiff for their reunion gig.
Scandinavia had to roll up his sleeves and fight to beat the staying on Rahiebb, and as Simon Holt exclaimed in his King George commentary back in 2019 when Enable beat Crystal Ocean; that was a horse race!
Did you get to see any of the key action at the ICF?
Not much is the answer to that, but I did watch Delacroix’s win back in the Irish Champion Stakes and saw Zavateri winning the National Stakes on the big screen from Doncaster.
Starting with the latter, and it’s wonderful to see Eve Johnson Houghton with a horse as good as him. He has all the attributes that you love in a racehorse, most notably ability and crucially the will to win.
He had to dig deep to beat the Aidan O’Brien trained favourite Gstaad and remains unbeaten. He has the option of the Dewhurst at Newmarket next month for which he’s Sky Bet’s 9/4 joint favourite alongside Gstaad, and he’s now 12/1 for next season’s 2000 Guineas. Charlie Bishop is a huge part of the team at Woodway, and he gave the colt a peach of a ride for the rider’s second Group 1 following Accidental Agent’s win in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot.
Christophe Soumillon has the responsibility of filling Ryan Moore’s boots whilst he’s on the sidelines and he showed why the Ballydoyle team have called him up with his winning ride on Delacroix. He may have been his nemesis in the Coral-Eclipse, but they worked as a team in the Champion Stakes and won impressively after a bold move by the Belgian two furlongs from home.
What are your early thoughts on the Mill Reef at Newbury?
I’ll be at Newbury for Sky Sports Racing and I’m really looking forward to the meeting. Into The Sky is Sky Bet’s 15/8 favourite for the Mill Reef itself. This horse will run in the colours of new part owner Doreen Tabor after a shock debut success when an 80/1 winner over 6 ½ furlongs at Newbury last month for trainer Jim Boyle. With the original owners keen to keep the son of first-season sire Starman, a joint-ownership agreement has been made, and he’ll stay with his Epsom-based trainer.
He’s a short price and there are concerns about softening ground conditions and with a damp week forecast he may be worth opposing.
Wise Approach (5/2) is one of two entries for Charlie Appleby, and he was only beaten half a length by Venetian Sun in the Group 1 Prix Morny last time out. Prior to that he beat subsequent Gimcrack runner-up Rock On Thunder (11/4 for Saturday’s race) over Saturday’s course and distance, with the latter also amongst the entries for trainer Kevin Ryan. The worry with Wise Approach is the likely ground. Appleby said after his Morny run that he could go for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint “as he wants quick ground” and on Wednesday it was described on the racecourse’s website as ‘good to soft, soft in places’. Which dampens enthusiasm slightly.
A horse that won’t be troubled by any ease underfoot is the Hugo Palmer-trained Watcha Snoop who won an Ascot maiden on soft ground last time out. This is a leap in class, and he has it to prove on that front and slightly less encouraging were winning jockey Oisin Murphy’s words after that race as he suggested the colt could win a nursery next time. He’s 5/1.
Maybe one to keep on side from an each-way perspective is Sands Of Spain for Andrew Balding. The trainer has the Midas touch this year and Sands Of Spain will enjoy ease in the ground. He finished third in the Super Sprint here giving weight to all but two of his rivals and his first try at 6 furlongs last time out saw him finish a close fourth in a Newmarket Sales race. He’s 10/1 with Sky Bet.
I’ll wait and see how the ground shapes up before making a final call.
Published at 0900 BST on 17/09/25
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