3 minute read

Amo Racing unleashed an exciting prospect at Nottingham when King Of Steel landed division two of the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes.

This contest was won by St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov 12 months ago – and as the David Loughnane-trained youngster, who cost $200,000 as a yearling, holds a Derby entry, he could be another with Classic aspirations in 2023.

Given plenty of daylight in the early stages by Adam Kirby, it was rounding the turn for home when the son of Wootton Bassett first displayed his quality, grabbing the bit to join the Andrea Atzeni-ridden In The Trenches on the front-end in a matter of strides.

The 11-2 chance was soon asked to hit top gear and extended clear in the straight to win by the best part of five lengths.

"He's done nothing wrong there – he must be one of the biggest two-year-olds I've ever ridden," said Kirby.

"He travelled really nicely and lengthened well down the straight. It didn't help that Andrea's horse tried to run out on the turn, I had to ride two races to keep him in it, but hopefully he should be good fun for connections. He could definitely go a bit further in time, he's got the right attitude for the game and is exciting."

Emily Scott, racing manager for the owners, added: "You can see why we waited, because he is enormous.

"We never rushed him at any stage, we just kept feeding him and letting him grow. From the moment I saw him in the parade ring to taking the saddle off, he's done everything like a complete pro and with a big horse you want them to behave – he would be a handful if he didn't.

"He's never been asked too many questions at home. David said they barely get him off the bridle at home because he is so big and gallops over everything and this was where we would find out how useful he was. I was worried he was going to be green off the bridle, but he wasn't, and he lengthened really nicely. He's done it like a real, honest, genuine horse. The further the better and he's a really exciting horse.

King Of Steel holds an entry in the Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, but Scott believes anything he does this year is a bonus ahead of his three-year-old season.

On a run at Town Moor on Saturday week, she continued: "I think it will be something we will discuss as a team once the dust has settled. You never say never, but I think he is a horse for next year whatever happens."

In the first division Ralph Beckett's Artistic Star caused a small surprise on debut at 16-1.

Owned by Jeff Smith, the son of Galileo was always to the fore and showed a good attitude to hold off Like A Tiger.

"It was a nice debut, he had done plenty at home to suggest he should go and see it all," said winning rider Rob Hornby.

"Obviously, he's got a beautiful pedigree and it's nice to have another nice horse for Mr Smith.

"He's gone about his business really well there, albeit quite green still, but was able to overcome that and he's probably just done that on raw ability.

"He's a really exciting horse and one to look forward to next year."

Smith's racing manager, David Bowe, added: "He's got a late birthday, so we've took a bit of time with him, and Ralph has just kept him ticking over and had him spot on for today.

"I think a mile will be the minimum of his trip, a mile and a half will be about right for him in time, but we shall take one race at a time and see what happens.

"I think Ralph has always liked him, it was just a case of waiting on him. He did a nice piece of work last week that Ralph was quite impressed with, and I think that was the reason we came here today.

"I'd say that is probably that. We'll talk to Ralph and Ralph will make the decisions, but he's made a winning debut and we may just wrap him up for next year."

Freddie and Martyn Meade's Ashtanga built on a promising debut when third to two smart colts at Salisbury to take the EBF Maiden Fillies' Stakes.

The 2-1 favourite is now likely finished for the year and is likely to return over further next term when a Classic trial is on the agenda.

"She's a really nice filly that did nothing today and Andrea was very positive about her," said joint-trainer Freddie Meade.

"We were umming and ahing, she is still a frame, and we were thinking of putting her away. But she has bounced out of Salisbury, and we thought we could squeeze a win into her before the winter.

"She has done that really nicely and we'll look for an Oaks trial at the beginning of next year.

"Hopefully we'll have a really nice horse to play with next year."