'He puts a smile on our faces' - Al Qareem makes it back-to-back Stand Cup successes for Nick Bradley team

Al Qareem caused an upset when defeating Bluestocking in the Stand Cup a year ago but there was no surprise this time as he cruised to an easy victory over Cristal Clere. 

The five-year-old had been competing consistently at higher levels all season and was given an uncomplicated ride by Pierre-Louis Jamin to justify 4-5 favouritism for Karl Burke and Nick Bradley Racing.

"He ran really well and he's a great horse to own," Bradley said. "Every time you think you're going to have a quiet spell, up he pops and he puts a smile on our faces.

"We had him in the Irish St Leger and at various times during this week I thought we were going to run in Ireland, but I'm happy with the decision to run here. We're planning to run him twice again this season and he has options at Newmarket in a couple of Listed races and then we'll look at something else."

Al Qareem is 20-1 with Sky Bet and a best-priced 40-1 for the Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Qipco British Champions Day on October 19.

Spirit strikes

Willie Mullins was narrowly denied a second winner at the track this year when Mr Escobar was beaten a nose by Spirit Mixer in the 2m Watergate Cup.

Rob Hornby and Spirit Mixer charged down the Sean Dylan Bowen-ridden six-year-old to record a second successive course-and-distance victory. The Andrew Balding-trained winner was cut to 16-1 (from 33) by Betfair for the Cesarewitch at Newmarket on October 12.

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