My Prospero gets the better of Reach For The Moon at Sandown

Simon Milham
May 19, 2022 6:38 pm

Smart pair look set for a big few months ahead.

My Prospero came out on top in the Coral Heron Stakes at Sandown, with Reach For The Moon running a fine race in second on his eagerly-awaited return to action.

Hopes were high Reach For The Moon might be the horse to give the Queen a Derby winner in Platinum Jubilee year, but his recovery from a setback meant a delayed start to his campaign, having been on the sidelines since finishing second to Bayside Boy in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster in September.

He was taken out of the Derby, with sights set instead on Royal Ascot, and he will undoubtedly have pleased his connections with his comeback effort, leading from the stalls opening under Frankie Dettori and still looking to be going strongly three furlongs out.

Race-fit My Prospero (74jf) wins the @Coral Heron Stakes @Sandownpark for white-hot William Haggas and @TomMarquand 🏆
Royal runner Reach For The Moon finished an honourable second for the Gosdens and was seemingly in need of the run under @FrankieDettori pic.twitter.com/X5BcixCPOD
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 19, 2022

But just as Akhu Najla dropped away, My Prospero – a winner at Newbury last month who is entered in the St James’s Palace Stakes – came with surging finish to get on top inside the final furlong in the hands of Tom Marquand and hold his fellow 7-4 joint-favourite by a length and a quarter, marking himself out as another exciting prospect for William Haggas.