A Spirited Victory!
Wed 09 Mar 2022
WINNER 20 OF 2022: SPIRITOFTHENORTH, trained by Kevin Ryan and ridden by Sam James: 'The Play 4 To Win At Betway Handicap' over 1m 1.5f at Wolverhampton.
Now there are plenty of sayings in racing. Two examples are; "knocking on the door" or "a win is just around the corner." Both these remarks could have been said about Spiritofthenorth on quite a few occasions. Here's why....he has placed 2nd five times, 3rd seven times and 4th twice, across both codes. Returning to the 'winners enclosure' rather than the unheralded area where unplaced horses are taken on 14 occasions, from his 18 starts before he lined up yesterday. Annoyingly though, he was drawn on the widest stall.
Drawn in 10, things were going to be tricky, unless he got a good break. Having waited in the stalls for some while, whilst loading was delayed, there was a concern that he might miss it, as standing there waiting can be a hindrance to getting out sharply. But he broke smoothly and Sam managed to get him across without doing too much.
Managing to get to the rail, he was in front, although another horse loomed up on his outside and took over for a short spell. 2f out, he was asked to increase his speed and although hard pressed, he kept on resolutely, to win by 1/2 a length - always doing enough.
Many congratulations to his owners.
"Spiritofthenorth will not be denied!" Watch the full race replay here: https://www.attheraces.com/racecard/Wolverhampton/08-March-2022/2000
You can't argue with a career best Timeform rating of 81, remarking: "Disputed lead, kicked on well over 2f out, tackled 1f out, found extra, proved determined....there was no faulting his attitude on this occasion.”
Sam said in his Sky Sports Racing interview: "He is fit from his spell hurdling, so I made plenty of him. He has been running over 2 miles, so I made the most of his stamina and once one came to him, he's stayed on and won nicely.”
See the official photo gallery here: https://www.jahphoto.co.uk/-/galleries/wolverhampton-horse-racing-2022/march-2022/8th-march-2022/race-7#media_cfe1c9b7-c7c1-4ef6-998e-260a36318644
Syndicate manager Tim says: "Our record breaking 2021 shows no signs of abating in 2022. In fact, we’re superseding all known performance indicators.
Spiritofthenorth’s win at Wolverhampton for, arguably, the most deserving syndicate we have on our books, in waiting for the now 5yo to shed his maiden tag, brings up another pathfinding milestone, for a British syndication company; that of 1300 winners since our inception.
It’s all down to the undying support of our brilliantly loyal owners, without whose support, these records would not be tumbling.
We’re eagerly awaiting our 2 Cheltenham Festival runners next week and with our annual Lincoln Box launch of the Flat at Doncaster on 26th March we’re counting down the days too, to another exciting Flat season ahead.
Far from resting on our laurels, we’re constantly adding new stock, Jumps and Flat, and with the Breeze Ups Sales just around the corner, the season ahead looks rosey."
If you’d like to be the first to know about our a Breeze Ups acquisitions or any equine additions ……… sign up here 👉MPR Mailing List👈