Eric Alston recalls Reverence’s Nunthorpe strike

Sprinter kicked off quickfire Group One double at York.

For Eric Alston, the 2006 Nunthorpe hero Reverence was the horse of a lifetime.

Owned and bred by Guy and Lesley Middlebrook, the mud-loving chestnut’s rise to the top of the sprinting division was made all the more remarkable by the fact he broke his pelvis not once but twice before he even saw a racecourse.

After suffering the injury first as a two-year-old with Mark Johnston and then again with William Haggas at three, Reverence was sent back north to Preston-based Alston, who had proved himself a capable trainer of fast horses thanks to the exploits of the high-class Tedburrow.

Trainer Eric Alston
Trainer Eric Alston (Mike Egerton/PA)

The latter, who won 21 races in all, became the joint-oldest horse to win a European Pattern race after landing the Group Three Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle as a 10-year-old in 2002, while he also claimed successive wins in the Flying Five at Leopardstown and three editions of City Walls Stakes at Chester.

Almost a year after Tedburrow ran his final race in the summer of 2004, Reverence finally made his debut as a four-year-old in a maiden at Thirsk, filling the runner-up spot as a 50-1 shot.

“We were lucky to get him just when he came right really,” said a typically modest Alston.

“I can’t say I thought he was as smart as he was going to be when he first came to us. We always thought he was OK, it just depended whether he stayed in one piece I suppose, but he actually turned out to be a pretty sound horse.”

Bar a blip at Newmarket, Reverence was unbeaten for the rest of his four-year-old campaign, shedding his maiden tag at Ripon before adding to his tally at Doncaster, Pontefract and Doncaster again.

While Group One glory was only fanciful at that stage, connections were beginning to realise they had a serious horse on their hands.

“(Kevin) Darley always liked him,” Alston continued. “I remember him winning at Doncaster at the end of his first season and he said ‘he’ll win the Abbaye next year’, because of the ground that you usually get at Longchamp I suppose.”

As a five-year-old, the son of Mark Of Esteem did indeed come into his own, with an early-season victory over veteran sprinter Bahamian Pirate and a first Group-race success in the Temple Stakes at Sandown suggesting he was capable of making an impression at the highest level.

Reverence was too strong for his rivals in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York
Reverence was too strong for his rivals in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York (Martin Rickett/PA)

He was unable to land a blow in either the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot or the Champagne Sprint at Sandown in high summer, but with heavy rain turning the York turf soft prior to the Nunthorpe, Alston was optimistic his stable star was ready to show his true colours.

“The ground came right for him and I suppose we hoped he would win, but it was a Group One and we hadn’t got near a Group One until then,” he said.

Reverence produced a performance that was surely even more than Alston could have hoped for.

Sent straight to the lead by Darley, horse and rider never looked in any real danger of being reeled in as he devoured the testing terrain on his way to a decisive two-length verdict.

“The day went over me a little bit, to be honest. He won well and never really looked like getting beat,” Alston recalled.

“It was a bit of a blur, but me and the wife really enjoyed it, that’s for sure. It was fantastic to go over the Pennines and do that.”

Following his successful Yorkshire raid, Reverence doubled his Group One tally just nine days later, ploughing through heavy ground to lift the Sprint Cup at Haydock.

Darley’s prophecy of a top-level triumph on French soil in the Prix de l’Abbaye did not quite come off as he was beaten a neck by Kevin Ryan’s Desert Lord in Paris, but Alston was nevertheless proud of an excellent campaign.

Reverence (left) winning the Sprint Cup at Haydock
Reverence (left) winning the Sprint Cup at Haydock (Peter Byrne/PA)

“It was a fantastic day when he won at Haydock on home turf. He only just won that day actually, I think the six furlongs nearly found him out on what was probably the worse ground that’s ever been run on,” he said.

“After that we went to the Abbaye and I think it rained everywhere bar the track! Some of my owners were ringing me up telling me it was absolutely throwing it down in the middle of Paris, but the girl who was over there with him said it hadn’t rained at all on the track.

“The ground wasn’t ideal but he still ran a very good race.”

Reverence continued to ply his trade for another five years before bowing out with a record of 10 wins from 42 starts in the summer of 2011.

Reverence (right) in action at Doncaster
Reverence (right) in action at Doncaster (Steve Parkin/PA)

Alston, now aged 80, called time on his training career two years ago to care for his wife Sue, but keeps an interest in racing and reports Reverence to be enjoying his retirement at the age of 23.

“His owner still has him and they look after him well – he goes out every day,” he added.

“I’m looking after Sue, that’s why I retired really. There’s a lot of trainers struggling these days, it can’t be easy. There’s that many new rules now I don’t think I’d be able to keep up!

“I still watch a lot of racing and have a tiny share in a horse with Paul Midgley, Grant Wood. He’s owned by the Whitehills Racing Syndicate and he runs in Sue’s colours actually.

“That’s a great interest for me, I can’t go far but I have visited Haydock a couple of times.”

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