Method team eyeing Hackwood spin

Sprinter could go for Group Three gold at Newbury.

Method looks poised to go back up in trip with Saturday’s Hackwood Stakes at Newbury on the cards for the sprinter.

Third in the Group Three Coral Challenge at Sandown on his previous run, the Martyn and Freddie Meade-trained four-year-old will bid to win for the first time in almost two years when he steps back up to six furlongs in the Group Three contest.

Trying five furlongs for the first time since chasing home Winter Power in the Cornwallis at Newmarket in October 2020, he got a little outpaced after racing prominently in the Sandown contest won by Raasel and will now revert to his normal distance.

Freddie Meade said: “Sometimes with those sort of sprinters who are trying five furlongs for the first time, things happen very quickly and the seasoned five-furlong horses quicken instantly.

“I suppose he has never really had that test. He has bounced out of Sandown and he will get an entry in the Hackwood at the weekend. That is a possible target.

“He was a bit free at Salisbury the first time this season and I think he jumped out and caught Rob (Hornby) a bit by surprise and he couldn’t really get him back. That was freshness mostly.

“He ran a creditable race at Sandown under Tom Marquand and he is going through building blocks and by the end of the year we will work out where we are with him.”

Method, a son of Mehmas, won his first two starts, which included a Listed contest over Saturday’s course and distance.

Though highly tried subsequently, he has not won in seven starts. Meade hopes he is getting back to something near his best, however.

He added: “You see a few three-year-old sprinters who lose their way a little bit having been good two-year-olds, so it is a bit of a shame, but he seems to be coming back and hopefully we can get him back to the level we thought of him as a two-year-old.

“He will get an entry in all the big sprint races, but he will get an entry in the Hackwood and we will build from there, really.”

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