Longsider Lights Up Lingfield
Sun 07 Feb 2021
OUR 7th WINNER OF 2021: LONGSIDER, trained by Sir Mark Prescott and ridden by Ryan Tate: 'The Betway Novice Stakes', over 1m 4f at Lingfield.
He had been off for 388 days and was having his first start for Sir Mark Prescott, after his previous trainer David Lanigan moved to Kentucky. He was also going up in trip, so it was a case of nervous times before the race. Described on Sky Sports Racing as 'a big horse' as he walked around the parade ring, all the attention was on the John Gosden nicely bred favourite Waldfabel as they made their way to the start.
As the gates opened, I think there was a collective "NOOOO!" shouted by the MPR Family, as he reared badly and almost got his hooves over the side of the stalls. Ryan managed to stay in the saddle and he got away a good few lengths behind the field. He was drawn on the outer and stayed out there early on as he steadily made up the ground, without Ryan having to do too much. The field weren't going any great pace, which allowed his big white face and huge stride to glide up into 2nd, as they passed the winning post for the first time. Coming around the home bend, Ryan asked him to quicken and he moved into the lead at the 2f pole, going clear and unchallenged, keeping on strongly inside the final furlong to pull away and win by 2 1/2 lengths.
Watch the full race replay here: https://www.attheraces.com/racecard/Lingfield/06-February-2021/1525
In interview with Matt Chapman after the race, Ryan said: "He is a nice horse and very progressive. He stayed the trip very well and that was the question mark today. It's nice to have a winner on my first ride back after injury." In the Sky Sports Racing studio, when they were discussing the Lingfield Card, Freddy Tylicki said "He looks a really interesting contender for the rest of the year and I can see him landing a big one."
Syndicate manager Tom says: "WOW, just WOW! That was rather impressive and it has pretty much left me speechless. We thought before the race it was going to take a low to mid 90's performance to win the race. Then there was all the weight he had to give away, as well as the fact that he was looking a little 'round' with how much more work we could do with him to get him fit - and on top of that; then there was the start! So it's no wonder we have been using plenty of superlatives to describe what he did. Timeform have rated the win p90 and the way that he hit the line hard means that we can look at some nice staying races coming up and his owners have a nice horse on their hands to go forward with. Thank you to them for being patient with him and congratulations on such an eye catching win. I spoke to Sir Mark after the race and he was flabbergasted too! We'll have a discussion between us about a plan for him, but he has gone into many peoples trackers we see on social media, so keep an eye on our entries page!"