BetVictor Hungerford Stakes
Group 2, Newbury 15:35
£125,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus,
7f, Class 1   
Saturday 17th August 2024

SureWIn

1 Tiber Flow 4/1
2 Witch Hunter 8/1
3 Jumby 18/1
7 ran Distances: nse, shd, nk
Time: 1m 23.46s (slow by 0.66s)

The five-year-old Tiber Flow, trained by William Haggas, has been a reliable performer in stakes races but faced a near-tragic incident at York earlier this season. During that race, he somersaulted, causing his jockey, Tom Marquand, to crash to the ground. Fortunately, both emerged unscathed, and Tiber Flow has since made a remarkable comeback, winning the John of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock in his next start.

Despite a setback at Goodwood in the Lennox Stakes, he returned to top form in Berkshire, defeating previous winners Witch Hunter and Jumby to claim Group Two honours.

Starting towards the rear, with only Ed Walker’s Popmaster taking a different route, Tiber Flow moved into contention under Marquand’s guidance. Displaying his characteristic determination, he edged out a fierce competition in the final stages, which also featured Frankel’s half-brother Kikkuli, the 7/4 favourite aiming to replicate his sibling’s success.

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Maureen Haggas, wife and assistant to the winning trainer, admitted she did not think Tiber Flow would be around after what happened earlier in the season.

She said: “After York, he ran the next time at Haydock and had to be pushed out to win, he’s an absolute legend and I couldn’t be more proud of him, he’s such a star.

“He wants to win and that’s a pretty hard trait to find in a lot of horses – and it’s just brilliant.

“I thought he was dead (at York). I took my shoes off and went running down the track and he just came cantering past me with his ears pricked. I promise you, we went back to the stables after and it didn’t seem to bother him, he must be as hard as nails.

“He’s as tough as old boots and a legend. He prefers softer ground in an ideal world but you just wouldn’t know, he just keeps surprising us.”

Winning rider Marquand added: “He’s a proper warrior and to have had the turbulent year he has and to come out and have the season he has since, has been brilliant.

“To be honest, he’s been a revelation since he had the fall and it’s quite remarkable. As I said after he won at Haydock, you can’t underestimate how much the team does at home to make sure these horses come to the races in peak condition.

“Chris, who rides him every day, knows when he’s on, knows when he’s off, and that’s so important when it comes to getting them back to peak condition.

“We hit the ground very hard (at York) and in a six-furlong Group race you are flying. It was relatively quick ground and it’s remarkable that he stood up all right.

“When they turn over, you can’t help but think about the worst for the horse because they are much more fragile than we are and aren’t meant to do that – I know we’re not either but we’re probably built a bit more for it.

“Remarkably, he was back less than six weeks later and getting his head in front and probably producing a career best – and now he has bettered that again, it is pretty incredible stuff.”

On the close finish, Marquand went on: “I thought I was beat. Witch Hunter came with a bit of a run and I thought it would push me forward and then right on the line I thought Jamie’s (Spencer, on Witch Hunter) nose was down and he just caught us at the wrong time. Absolutely thrilled that he didn’t.”

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Hungerford Stakes
£125,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 7f, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Good to Firm

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (3)    Tiber Flow 5 9-8 William Haggas Tom Marquand 4/1
2 (1) nse Witch Hunter 5 9-8 Richard Hannon Jamie Spencer 8/1
3 (5) shd Jumby 6 9-8 Eve Johnson Houghton William Buick 18/1
4 (4) nk Kikkuli 3 9-3 Harry Charlton Oisin Murphy 7/4F
5 (2) ½ Popmaster 6 9-8 Ed Walker Ross Coakley 25/1
6 (6) 3 English Oak 4 9-8 Ed Walker James Doyle 3/1
7 (7) 2 Folgaria 3 9-0 Marco Botti Hollie Doyle 11/1

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