3 minute read

Fire Demon continued his ascendancy with a snug success in the BetMGM All-Weather 3-Year-Old Championship Handicap at Newcastle.

The Juddmonte-owned son of Dark Angel failed to find the winners' enclosure in three outings as a juvenile but quickly found the winning habit at three when striking in maiden company at Kempton back in January.

A disappointing effort on his handicap debut at Lingfield would follow later that month but Andrew Balding's colt would quickly get back on track by beating the reopposing Media Shooter back at Kempton last month.

Cross The Tracks looked to have his rivals in some trouble as he struck for home entering the final two furlongs and Richard Spencer's charge still held a healthy advantage approaching the furlong marker.

However, slowly but surely Oisin Murphy began to bridge the gap on the 9/4 favourite and the pair would come with a well-timed run to pass the longtime leader before kicking on to score by a length crossing the line.

"I was in the perfect spot and this race suited him," said Murphy, who steered the Andrew Balding-trained Desert Cop to victory in this contest twelve months ago.

He added: "He came here in good form, looked great in his coat and Andrew was very sweet on him. 

"A stiff six (furlongs) probably does suit him. If the horse was on a different continent, you'd imagine he'd get two turns going a mile in America, maybe one day.

"He's really straightforward to ride now. We ran him over seven a couple of times early on where he led and didn't quite finish, but this sort of test suits him.

"He's all there now as a three-year-old and it's great that Juddmonte are good supporters of Park House Stables."