3 minute read

Stepper Point will now bid to go one better than last summer in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes after getting back on the winning track at the Curragh.

William Muir's classy sprinter was only caught close home by Sole Power in York's five-furlong Group One in 2014 and will return to the Knavesmire all guns blazing on August 21 following his victory in the Sapphire Stakes.

Muir felt his stable star was coming back to his best when finishing an unlucky fourth in a messy race for the Coral Charge at Sandown earlier this month after not quite firing on his return from Dubai in the spring.

"His first couple of runs this year he didn't seem to sparkle, maybe because it took him a long time to get over going to Meydan," said the Lambourn trainer.

"At Sandown, we knew we were back. Martin (Dwyer) had all the right feels from him but it was just unfortunate what happened in the race. He felt he would have gone close to winning that day.

"He's been sparkling since then and we went over to Ireland thinking we'd got a tough ask because Mecca's Angel is a proven good sprinter, but we knew if the horse was in the same form when he ran in the King's Stand, the Nunthorpe and the Flying Five last year we'd have to go close.

"There's no point looking elsewhere now, we'll go straight for the Nunthorpe and then back to the Curragh for the Flying Five.

"With sprinters it depends who gets luck on the day. This horse is very lucky in that he's not ground dependent. He's won on top of the ground, he's won on soft.

"He's great to train because he's very straight forward and when he's in this sort of form you know exactly what you're doing."