Kind Of Blue (10/1) followed in the footsteps of relatives The Tin Man and Deacon Blues by winning the Gr1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint at Ascot on Saturday for trainer James Fanshawe.
The lightly raced sprinter travelled strongly towards the middle of the track before finding plenty under pressure to hold off Swingalong (17/2) and Flora Of Bermuda (25/1) by a head and a neck.
Kind Of Blue (centre) wins the QIPCO British Champions Sprint (Pic – Megan Coggin)
Racing in the colours of Wathnan Racing for the first time and partnered by retained jockey James Doyle, Kind Of Blue was purchased after losing out narrowly in the Gr1 Sprint Cup at Haydock Park last month.
Fanshawe trained Deacon Blues, a full-brother to Kind Of Blue’s dam Blues Sister, to win the inaugural running of this race in 2011. The trainer followed up in 2016 with The Tin Man, who is a half-brother to Blues Sister.
Fanshawe said: “Kind Of Blue is the third close relation that has won this race, all from the same family and all bred by the Hoppers, the Grundys and the Morrises. All trainers get attached to families that do them well and this is a family that has done us tremendously well.
“Wathnan Racing bought him three weeks ago and he’s a really exciting horse for them going forwards. He’s got the Group One under his belt now. It’s been a big team effort to get him here. Dan Muscutt has ridden him in all his races and done all the homework on him; obviously to all the team back home, I’m really grateful.
“Kind Of Blue had a couple of niggles as a two-year-old, but up Warren Hill in the spring he was looking pretty special early on. He’ll be done for the year now. Obviously we’ll talk with Richard Brown and the connections but he’s had a long season and we’ll look forward to next spring.”
Doyle said: “To think Kind Of Blue was unraced before the start of this season, he has made giant strides and run some cracking races in defeat. He ran well here back in June in the Commonwealth and ran great in the Haydock Sprint, when he was just touched off.
“He improved with every race and there’s no greater man than James Fanshawe to prepare a Champions Sprint winner here at Ascot – he knows what he needs. It was great.
“It was a long last 10 strides! He was very brave. For a very inexperienced horse to lead a furlong and a half out and still knuckle down when he felt the second horse come to me is a true testament to not only his ability but the heart that he has.
“There is a superb team behind Wathnan Racing, headed by Richard Brown, that source these horses. We’ve had some near misses through the season, so to get one of these proper Group One winners is very important. The team did a great job.”
Swingalong’s trainer Karl Burke said: “I am delighted with the filly. Three seconds in Group Ones in a year is a bit frustrating, but she’s a fantastic filly to have and credit to everyone in the yard. She’s brilliant. Two furlongs out I thought, surely we’ll get there. Then I thought I was beaten, then she was coming again at the death. She just doesn’t know when to give in. Once she’s in that rhythm, she doesn’t stop, whatever the ground is.
“It is a good question as to whether she stays in training – it will be up to the owner. Whatever he decides to do, she has done enough to go off to the paddocks; if she had won today I’d have said pack her in. But there’s no reason why she can’t go on another season physically – she’s a very sound filly, touch wood. It’s the owner’s choice and I wouldn’t like to recommend either way.”
Anna Lisa Balding said of Flora Of Bermuda: “Absolutely delighted. She is a very special filly. She has had a lot of bad luck and was pretty unlucky at Haydock; that would have been her best career run. Today she has taken it off the charts. Jake Warren bought her; we’ve had a few little hiccups with her, and to do it like that on Champions Day, that’s what we were dreaming of. She will stay in training and you never know, we might bump her up to seven furlongs in time.”
Oisin Murphy added: “That’s a career best. Flora Of Bermuda deserved that. She had a good trip behind the winner throughout, and I think the form is pretty strong.”
QIPCO British Champions Sprint (Group 1)
1 Kind Of Blue (Wathnan Racing) James Fanshawe 3-9-03 James Doyle 10/1
2 Swingalong (Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum) Karl Burke 4-9-01 Billy Loughnane 17/2
3 Flora Of Bermuda (Bermuda Racing Limited) Andrew Balding 3-9-00 Oisin Murphy 25/1
20 ran 7/2F Kinross (7th)
James Fanshawe – 4th winner on QIPCO British Champions Day
James Doyle – 3rd winner on QIPCO British Champions Day
