Another Festival - Another Winner!
Sat 20 May 2023
WINNER 41 OF 2023: GOT TO LOVE A GREY, trained by Karl Burke and ridden by Sam James: The Listed 'Clipper EBF Marygate Fillies' Stakes' over 5f at York's Dante Festival.
We bought her privately from Aguiar Bloodstock and she was an impressive 6 length winner on debut at Nottingham on April 22nd. Winning 'best turned out' was her first prize of the afternoon, on this, her second start.
First into the stalls, she had to wait quite a while as others were playing up, indeed one filly had to be withdrawn. But this was of no consequence luckily, as she broke very well to take the lead. Sam pushed her along over 1f out, as she faced the challenge of Karl's other runner, but she kept on well, to win by 1/2 a length.
"Got To Love A Grey, very game, inching home in the Marygate." Watch the full race replay here: https://www.racingtv.com/results/uk/444195-york/19-May-2023/1350
Timeform rated it as an '93+' performance, commenting: "Maintained her unbeaten record faced with very different ground, showing plenty of speed and a fine attitude; forced pace, travelled well, effort over 1f out, responded well; she'll stay 6f and has earned a crack at Royal Ascot, with more improvement to come."
Sam was interviewed on ITV Racing, after the race:
Here's Karl, giving his post race interview with ITV Racing:
Read the Racing Post story, here: https://www.racingpost.com/news/reports/she-will-definitely-go-to-ascot-listed-one-two-for-juvenile-powerhouse-karl-burke-aTM6p7i5EgMK/
Syndicate manager Mike says: "Well done to her owners and to Karl and his team for having the 1-2, two years in a row! The most impressive part of her race was her attitude in the final furlong. She loved that battle with Dorothy Lawrence and she just kept pulling out more. She also showed her versatility for both the underfoot conditions and her run style which should hold her in good stead for the different tracks and ground conditions that she'll encounter over the rest of the season. She obtained the all important capital black type and whilst that's not our primary focus at the moment, it's good that it's there for the future. Being an unbeaten 2 year-old filly sets her up nicely for Royal Ascot. It was great to be there yesterday with her very happy owners and we thank York for their kind hospitality.
The title of this story mentions 'Festival' - after two winners at the Guineas Festival, two winners at Chester's May Festival and now a winner at York's Dante Festival, things are going very well. We passed the £900,000 of prize money won for the year yesterday too, which demonstrates the quality of races we are competing in. I loved hearing the Racing TV team remark 'Middleham Park have a really strong team of young horses' - they're not wrong!"