'What a struggle it's been' - Henry Candy finally off the mark for the season after 237-day drought

Henry Candy admitted on Sunday that Sovereign Slipper's last-gasp win at Chepstow meant an awful lot as it was a belated first winner of the season

The multiple Group 1-winning trainer had been on a losing run that stretched back to November last year, 237 days and 50 runners previously.

That drought ended when Trevor Whelan forced 7-2 shot Sovereign Slipper in front in the last few strides of a 5f handicap at Chepstow on Friday evening to score by a short head.

"It was great to see him win," said Candy, who has been training for more than 50 years. "What a struggle it's been."

Reflecting on his Wantage yard's quiet spell, the trainer said: "I've got very few horses these days — I have 25 now — and there have been loads of little niggly problems, no one thing you can put your finger on.

"It's been frustrating but we'll enjoy the win and soldier on."

Candy, 79, has been training since he took over the licence from his father Derrick at the end of the 1973 season.

His best horses include Master Willie, who won the Coronation Cup and Eclipse Stakes in 1981, and Time Charter, who landed the Oaks in 1982 and collected the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes the following season.

More recently he has won the Sprint Cup with Markab and Twilight Son, who also took the Diamond Jubilee Stakes and whose son Twilight Calls finished sixth in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot for Candy last month.

Twilight Son (white and green) won at Royal Ascot in 2016Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

He was fourth in the same five-furlong contest 12 months previously and the trainer said: "Twilight Calls has been knocking on the door and we're going to run him over a furlong further and see if that helps him."

However, plans are on hold for last year's July Cup second Run To Freedom, who has not raced since finishing 11th in the Abernant Stakes at Newmarket in April.

"He's having a six-month holiday," said Candy. "He's not quite sound."

Read more:

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John Hunt: 'The devastation that we are experiencing cannot be put into words' 

'I’m gutted as I wanted to break my claim - but it's unlikely now' - Grace McEntee facing three months out after fall 

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