Sprinting legend The Tin Man to be honoured at Haydock in September

Popular sprinter The Tin Man, who recently suffered a career-ending leg injury on the Newmarket gallops, is to have a race named in his honour at Haydock in September to mark his achievements at the Merseyside track.

The James Fanshawe-trained veteran suffered a fractured cannon bone in a routine workout earlier this month, but recently returned to his old box at Pegasus Stables after being successfully operated on by vets at Newmarket Equine Hospital.

The Tin Man registered nine wins during his career, three at Group 1 level, and accrued over £1.27 million in prize-money. He performed particularly well at Haydock, winning the Group 1 Sprint Cup in 2018 and was placed in the six-furlong feature on three other occasions.

Kirkland Tellwright, clerk of the course at Haydock, said: “We intend to run a race in The Tin Man’s name at our Sprint Cup meeting in September. He had a fantastic association with Haydock and the Sprint Cup in particular having won it once, finished second twice, third once and once unplaced.”

Connections of The Tin Man after landing the 2018 Sprint CupCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Haydock has a long history of such namings, most recently having added the Irish stalwart Gordon Lord Byron to the list of those recognised.

Tellwright added: “We’ve done it for big, significant horses in the past and we now plan to do it for him. Prior to his injury, I’m sure he would have been back for another crack at the Sprint Cup this year. We’ve not long named a race after Gordon Lord Byron, while we have several named after jumpers, the most obvious being The New One.”

On having The Tin Man back at Pegasus Stables, Fanshawe’s wife, Jacko, said: “It’s not been the same without him, that’s for sure, and it's fantastic that he's back in his old box. The plan would be to take it steady while he’s still bandaged. Hopefully he can then be led out in a few weeks' time but the real goal is for me to ride him out as a hack which could well be next year.”

Now a nine-year-old, The Tin Man has been a flag bearer for his owners Fred Archer Racing and has built up a large fan base, many of whom were sending messages of support after his injury.

Jacko added: “We put a picture of The Tin Man on social media when he came back and it must have had over 100,000 views. We get many emails and phone calls asking about him and it’s great that so many people are interested.”

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