Summary
- Sparksmith put in a huge run to finish second at Chelmsford in the UK
- He was just edged out in a photo finish
- He showed serious promise and a huge stride length
Trainer James Ferguson is ‘gutted’ Sparksmith was just edged out in a thrilling finish to the £99 Annual Pass Restricted Maiden Stakes At Chelmsford in the UK on Thursday.
Sparksmith, one of two Kingsmoor Club horses trained in Newmarket, lined up as the 5-2 favourite under Jonny Peate, having finished a creditable third on debut last month.
Sparksmith broke well in the six-furlong event, and reached 20mph in a respectable 2.51 seconds. Peate had his mount in a good position on the inner and the pair reached a top speed of 40.08mph, the third fastest in the race.
Sparksmith took a heartbeat too long to get going once the gaps appeared in the latter stages of the sprint content and although looked for all the world like the winner inside the final furlong Evenepoel just overhauled him in the shadow of the finishing post.
“Sparksmith has just run an absolute cracker in a photo finish,” Ferguson told Kingsmoor.com.
“He behaved impeccably in the preliminaries, jumped well, got a tremendous position, travelled around well, put down his challenge nicely and beat the horse I thought we needed to beat.
“Unfortunately another horse that has improved since his first start has come and got us just on the line.”
Ferguson was delighted with Sparksmith’s effort, but rued the win that got away.
“I take nothing away from our horse – I think he has run an absolute cracker. He’ll improve again, he’s clearly a horse with ability and will be winning races soon.
“Obviously I’m gutted he wasn’t able to win today, but it is very positive to see how much he has improved since his first run.”
Sparksmith, a son of Group 1 Royal Ascot-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain, out of Gemcutter, a mare who ran her best over a mile, has a huge stride at 7.74 metres, which was comfortably the longest in the race (the winner’s was 7.34m).
Ferguson had suggested before the race that Sparksmith might want a step up in distance in the near future and Peate did not disagree.
“We were really unlikely to be caught late on,” he told Kingsmoor.com. “He’s been super professional, jumped lovely, got the perfect pitch, got into a great rhythmn and we were just unfortunate to bump in to a good one today. He’s done everything right on a sharp track.
“If the right race came up over seven furlongs I wouldn’t be worried about it but six is perfect at the moment. I am sure he will win soon.”
(You can still be part of the Sparksmith journey by becoming a Kingsmoor Club member. Memberships are £6,000 per annnum and include a share in Sparksmith, as well as our other horse based in Newamrket – Aunt Roberta, a daughter of the mighty champion Sea The Stars. For more information please see our memberships section
