The Peninsula
H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani’s homebred Aspetar (FR) (Al Kazeem x Bella Qatara) was an impressive winner of the Group 2 Sky Bet York Stakes, yesterday.
Second to Magny Cours on his reappearance, the 5-year-old gelding was never in danger this time. He won the 2100-metre race for 3-year-olds and older by one and a half lengths under Jason Watson for trainer Roger Charlton.
Fox Chairman (IRE) (Kingman x Starfish) was the runner up under Silvestre De Sousa. He is trained by Andrew Balding. Lord Glitters (FR) (Whipper x Lady Glitters) was a further half length behind in third.
He is trained by David O’Meara and was ridden by Daniel Tudhope. The winning jockey said: “He’s been very progressive. We’ve always liked him, and this year he’s been a lot more relaxed at home. We’ve taken our time with him.
He ran a nice race back at Sandown a couple of weeks ago and we’ve come here quite confident. Although he’s not always the most straightforward, he’s matured plenty and he put the race to bed very well today.
He’s quite versatile with trip. A mile, a mile and a quarter, a mile and a half! "He’s a small horse, but well-built with a good turn of foot. That’s what some of these stayers lack, which plays into our hands. I didn’t have to do a lot today - nice and smooth through the gears and he’s done it well. It was a competitive race today and I didn’t think we’d win like we did. He’s improved massively and keeps on improving, so we’ll just see how he comes out of this, but he was impressive today,” he said.