Earthlight lands G1 Middle Park Stakes

Two-year-old colt Earthlight made it five wins from five outings when successful in the G1 Middle Park Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket, UK, on Saturday.

The Andre Fabre-trained son of Shamardal was settled in sixth of the eight runners by jockey Mickael Barzalona as King Neptune took the field along at a good pace. Earthlight began to make progress approaching the final quarter mile and moved into a challenging position entering the last furlong.

He took up the running inside the final furlong and ran on strongly to win by a neck from Golden Horde in a time of 1m 09.31s on good ground, breaking Newmarket’s juvenile course record.

Fabre said: “I was very confident all the way as Earthlight was travelling easily and I knew there was something under the saddle.

“I definitely see him as being able to get a mile in the future and, with his pedigree, I think he could even go a bit further.

“We will now look at preparing him for the 2,000 Guineas next year. He will now go back home to eat well and sleep, as he usually does.

“I have been fortunate enough to have trained some great two-year-olds including Zafonic, who was a machine. Earthlight is a different sort of horse but is very exciting.”

Meanwhile, three-time G1 winner Benbatl made an exciting return to action with a comprehensive all-the-way success in the G2 Joel Stakes over a mile at Newmarket, UK, on Friday.

The five-year-old Dubawi horse, off the course since chasing home Winx in the G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley, Australia, in October, broke smartly under Oisin Murphy and soon opened up a length and a half advantage over his five rivals.

Benbatl travelled powerfully and kicked on with a furlong and a half to race, readily quickening further clear before being eased near the line to beat King Of Comedy by five lengths in 1m 35.60s on good ground.

His trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said: “Benbatl had been working really well and he showed his class in his final piece of work before this race. We gave him a break after Australia because last year was a hard season for him and he ran in many races.

“I talked to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and we decided to wait until the autumn, so we gave Benbatl time and didn’t push him in the summer. He needed the race today and, luckily, he won well.

“He is a solid horse, who always tries really hard, and we want to see something good from him in the future. The way he shows his class, we will be looking for more big races for him.”