Chindit triumphs in Doncaster Mile

Tougher tests await Richard Hannon’s charge.

Chindit returned in triumph to the scene of his biggest success so far when returning to winning form in the SBK Doncaster Mile on Town Moor.

He looked a leading Classic contender when lifting the Champagne Stakes at the South Yorkshire venue in September 2020 but has only struck once since – in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury last April – though he did run creditably in races such as the 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes.

The four-year-old, trained by Richard Hannon, did not win as convincingly as his odds of 8-13 favourite suggest when seeing off long-time leader Tempus by two and a quarter lengths, but his jockey Rossa Ryan, who was completing a treble, thought differently.

Ryan said: “He’s done this with class more than anything. He’s just fresh. He has started to settle at home and in his work. The more he’s been doing the better he’s been going. Today, he lit up going down the start and wanted to get on with it.

“He’s a class act to pull as hard as he did and to get to the front and then idle but he put the race to bed and I’d like to see him come on again.

“The Chindit I ride, I think he wants fast ground. It’s really gluey out there and he hated it. When he did get to the front he held a bit for himself which shows he’s minding himself. If he comes forward again, hopefully a big one can fall for him and we’ll see the Chindit we saw as a two-year-old.”

Hannon’s senior head lad Tony Gorman said: “He’s a lovely horse. I know he only won once last year but he ran some super races. He was up there at the top level and ran in all the good races so he deserves to come back and win again.

“He didn’t help himself today, he was a little bit keen. He was very fresh as well. Why not go for the Lockinge? We’ll have a look and see. It’s hard to hang on to him until Ascot.”

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