Connections have lots to look forward to with sprint king Art Power

‘We were thrilled, it’s all about winning on those big days’.

Connections hope to see Art Power shine in the sprint division for seasons to come after his triumph on Champions Day.

The Tim Easterby-trained grey was not especially fancied for the six-furlong Group One as he started at 40-1, but under David Allan he led from an early stage and always looked competitive when clearly comfortable on the soft going.

As the race neared the final furlongs his lead was reduced by the 5-4 favourite Kinross, ridden by Frankie Dettori, and at one point Art Power looked as though he was going to have to accept finishing second.

He did not fold, however, and rallied all the way to the line to prevail by a neck and give owners King Power Racing their first Group One success since Winter Power took the 2021 Nunthorpe.

“We were thrilled, it’s all about winning on those big days on the big occasions,” said Alastair Donald, racing manager to King Power.

“He’s been a great horse for King Power, he hasn’t had much luck in Group Ones as he’s been drawn badly or things have gone wrong for him, so he really deserved that.

“He showed great heart after being headed to come back and win, it was very exciting and I was thrilled for connections.”

The success is a third of the season for the six-year-old, who landed both the Greenlands and the Sapphire Stakes at Group Two level at the Curragh but was luckless when returning for the Flying Five in early September.

“He’s won two Group Twos and then in the Group One in Ireland it was a mess of a race, there’s a huge draw bias and the three hot favourites were all out of the top four,” Donald said.

“Two Group Twos and a Group One in a season, you’d take that with most horses!”

The Ascot victory vindicates the decision to geld the horse, who lost his form at the tail end of last season and was deemed to be a better prospect as a seasoned sprinter than a stallion.

“In his last three races last year he started missing the break and was rather colty, we thought before he went the wrong way he needed to be gelded,” Donald explained.

“His stallion value was low at that point and we thought there’d be more fun in gelding him and having him a racehorse for the next few years, he’s been such a sound horse, touch wood, that he should be around for two or three more seasons.

“He’s very much a favourite, he’s so eyecatching as he gets paler and paler and he’s a horse that people just seem to love watching.”

Follow us on Twitter racing365dotcom and like our Facebook page.

Latest