SHADOW DANCES AWAY WITH TOWN PLATE

Belinda Rose who has had several successful point to point races on her horse, Dancing Shadow, from my yard over the last few months decided to run him in the legendary Newmarket Town Plate on 26 August – and won in fine style! The iconic race was first run in 1666, making it the oldest, consistently run race in the racing calendar. It is a race for amateurs and is run over 4 miles, starting in Cambridgeshire and finishing in Suffolk on the July course in Newmarket!

Shadow is a veteran but loves his racing and is a genuine stayer – he and Belinda have really clicked and she rode a superb race. The plan was to take the lead to force the rest of the field to use up plenty of energy early on but then to allow others to take over if they wished to do so, leaving them to do the hard work during the middle section of the race before using Shadow’s stamina to press on up the hill to the finish. The plan worked like clockwork and it was great to see Shadow travelling so well, with Belinda looking neat and stylish as they sat in second three furlongs before the end of the race. With less than a furlong to go, Belinda encouraged Shadow to go on and he won comfortably, eased down as they crossed the line.