Balmoral Handicap (sponsored By Qipco) |
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| (British Champions Series) Handicap, Ascot 16:25 £200,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m, Class 2  |
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1 The Gatekeeper 25/1
2 Ropey Guest 40/1
3 Docklands
7/1
4 Bopedro 10/1
5 Vetiver 25/1
20 ran Distances: 1l, ¾l, ¾l
Time: 1m 47.11s (slow by 8.21s)
Big handicap pot for @MprUpdates! The Gatekeeper takes the Balmoral at @Ascot for Joe Fanning and @Johnston_Racing... pic.twitter.com/DWsWbi4gwn
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 21, 2023
The Gatekeeper made all up the far rail under Joe Fanning to win by a length.
The Middleham Park-owned winner, who proved his effectiveness on soft ground when scoring at Goodwood in August, took advantage of his draw in stall four, in a race where it paid to be drawn low.
Ropey Guest ran another big race in an Ascot handicap to take second, while Docklands filled third under Hayley Turner, who remains two shy of the 1,000 winner landmark.
Mark Johnston, assistant trainer to his son Charlie, said: “I think we knew The Gatekeeper would like the ground – I don’t know if that it is key to him, but we knew that he would handle it.
“We couldn’t help but note that front-runners have done very well today. So Mike Prince [of Middleham Park] in particular said to Joe, just jump and bowl along, which is what we tend to do anyway, so it has been perfectly suitable today.
“I think that is probably it for this season. One of the owners is talking about the Lincoln, which is an obvious target. And Joe’s not retiring, either!
Fanning said: “The Gatekeeper has had a tough year, but he keeps running well. He loved that ground. He travelled well all the way and was never really in danger. These Saturday handicaps are nice to get so, yeah, it's a good one."
Balmoral Handicap (sponsored By Qipco)
£200,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m, Class 2
20 ran
Going: Soft
POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (4) The Gatekeeper 4 8-12 Charlie Johnston Joe Fanning 25/1
2 (5) 1 Ropey Guest 6 9-1 George Margarson Tom Queally 40/1
3 (2) ¾ Docklands 3 9-3 Harry Eustace Hayley Turner 7/1
4 (7) ¾ Bopedro 7 9-4 David O'Meara Daniel Tudhope 10/1
5 (3) hd Vetiver 3 8-11 Andrew Balding P J McDonald 25/1
6 (9) 2¾ Sonny Liston 4 9-8 Ralph Beckett Ryan Moore 7/1
7 (8) ¾ Lattam 4 8-11 William Haggas Cieren Fallon 12/1
8 (14) hd Coeur D'or 7 9-2 D K Weld Chris Hayes 20/1
9 (23) ¾ Al Mubhir 4 9-7 William Haggas Tom Marquand 8/1
10 (6) 1¼ Raadobarg 5 9-9 George Boughey Rossa Ryan 16/1
11 (13) 1 Helm Rock 5 9-2 Daniel & Claire Kubler Richard Kingscote 40/1
12 (22) 2¼ Awaal 4 9-6 Simon & Ed Crisford James Doyle 11/2F
13 (15) 1½ Rhoscolyn 5 9-2 6ex David O'Meara Jason Watson 28/1
14 (10) nk Dual Identity 5 8-11 William Knight Jim Crowley 12/1
15 (16) ¾ Bennetot 4 8-13 2 David O'Meara Neil Callan 50/1
16 (18) ¾ Dancing Magic 3 8-11 Roger Teal Oisin Murphy 14/1
17 (21) nk Eilean Dubh 5 8-11 K R Burke Clifford Lee 66/1
18 (11) nse Migration 7 10-1 David Menuisier Benoit De La Sayette 14/1
19 (20) 14 Blue For You 5 9-4 David O'Meara Paul Mulrennan 25/1
20 (12) 5 Baradar 5 9-7 George Boughey William Buick 12/1
