Knight strikes again to make light work of the Horris Hill

The colt has now won both starts so far.

Knight made it two wins in as many starts as he ran out a smart winner of the Virgin Bet Horris Hill Stakes at Newbury.

The son of Mehmas had made a successful start for Simon and Ed Crisford at Yarmouth last last month and he took a huge leap forward to claim this Group Three prize on his second attempt in testing conditions.

Sent off a 10-1 shot in the hands of David Egan, Knight was settled in behind as Grey’s Monument set out to make all in the seven-furlong contest, with Caragio hot on his heels in the early exchanges.

Winning connections with Knight at Newbury
Winning connections with Knight at Newbury (Neil Morrice/PA)

However, Knight could be noted travelling particularly well with a couple of furlongs to run and as Egan switched him between Greys Monument and Ancestral Land to make his challenge, the Crisford runner found a nice change of gear to shoot clear.

While Grey’s Monument was game in defeat, rallying to take second, he proved no match in being beaten a comfortable length and three-quarters with a length back to Ancestral Land in third.

Striking Star was sent off the 9-4 favourite but he failed to figure.

Betfair introduced Knight as a 25-1 shot for next year’s Qipco 2000 Guineas and Ed Crisford believes a spring Classic trial will now be the plan.

He said: “It was hard to guess what he achieved on his first start but he’d trained well after it.

“His sister (Malavath) gets through this ground with a high knee action and we were hopeful he would.

“He’s an exciting colt and probably a Guineas horse who will go for a trial – the Craven or the Greenham.

“The owners (KHK Racing Ltd) are having a great year, winning the Leger and the Mill Reef (with Eldar Eldarov and Sakheer respectively) and they have a few with us.”

Egan added: “He’d definitely improved a lot since the time I last rode him.

“The ground was deep but he grabbed it and really galloped out on it. I liked his action and the way he put the race to bed.”

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