Candy rewards Richard Spencer's 3.30am dash from France with Two Year Old Trophy success

Candy (No.6) wins under George WoodCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

He was the longest-priced winner of the race in 15 years but nobody who saw his trainer hurtling along the French autoroutes to make it to Redcar can have been too surprised.

Richard Spencer thinks plenty of Candy and was determined to be present when the 18-1 shot stepped up in class in the £150,000 William Hill Two Year Old Trophy.

And the trainer's faith was justified as his speedy colt, who was backed in from 22-1, led at halfway under George Wood and fought back after being headed to lead again in the final 100 yards and win going away.

"I was hopeful," Spencer said. "I drove back from Saint-Cloud at 3.30 this morning to get here. Naomi Lapaglia was unlucky and finished third there but this makes up for it!

"I thought the draw was good and George had won on him twice and knows him. It was great that he could ride him."

Those two wins had been in nurseries at Newbury and Ayr and Candy was having his first run in Listed company here.

But Spencer, who trains the 28,000gns yearling for 2,000 Guineas-winning owner Phil Cunningham, said: "He was very good at Ayr. I thought he'd be hard to beat there and we've always liked him. He got handicapped on the back of bad draws — when he got beat at Bath first time out I could have shot myself driving home.

"Today has been the plan for a while. I had him in at Pontefract last week under a penalty but Phil said to swerve it and it was off anyway. Fair play to Phil to wait and come here."

It was a first Listed success for Wood since 2019 and Spencer said: "George is riding quite a few for us. He should get more rides, like a lot of them in the weighing room — if they get on the right horses, there are plenty of capable jockeys to do the job."

The jockey said: "This is nice because you work hard and it's good to get a Listed winner, especially for Richard and the boys because they support me a lot.

"Candy is very tough and he's improving. He's got a high cruising speed and he found it very easy, he went on the ground which a few of them probably didn't."

'He's a tough cookie'

Rossa Ryan was happy with 5-6 favourite Grey's Monument's battling half-length success in the Listed 7f race.

"He's a tough cookie," the jockey said. "I wasn't afraid of committing him, he gets a mile and a lot of these horses were stepping up in trip. He loves a fight and he got the job done."

Saturday specialist strikes again

Karl Burke, fresh from success in the Cambridgeshire and a one-two-three in the Ayr Gold Cup on the previous two Saturdays, warmed up for landing the Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot by taking the opening division of the two-year-old novice event here with Pattern race hope Arabian Angel.

The 7-2 shot held off 6-5 favourite Seraph Gabriel by just a short-head and it took around 15 minutes for the result to be confirmed by the stewards, but assistant trainer James Callow said of Arabian Angel: "He's still learning. Drifting in front there was a sign he was lonely and green, when the other horse came to him he ran on strongly.

Arabian Angel (yellow) just holds off Seraph GabrielCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"He's always been held in high regard. He ran well first time then probably bumped into a good one at Haydock. He's a work in progress and will be even nicer next year, when we could be looking at Pattern races for him."

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