Shades of Kyllachy as Twilight Calls heads for Nunthorpe
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It has been 21 years since Henry Candy last won the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, so he would hardly be winning out of turn if Twilight Calls could provide him with a second success in Friday's Group 1 sprint at York.
For anyone who cannot picture his first winner, it is well worth looking up Kyllachy's 2002 success on YouTube. For those who do recall it, the Front Runner can assure you it is no less breathtaking to watch more than two decades later.
Kyllachy was a sprinter on the up at the time but there were concerns for him around the going at York and, in a period when a far-side draw was advantageous on the Knavesmire, Kyllachy was poorly berthed in stall 15 of 17 on the stands' side.
Much to his trainer's surprise, Kyllachy was switched all the way across the track by Jamie Spencer shortly after the start, leaving him stone-cold last after a furlong. It was the sort of move on the 3-1 favourite that could have easily ended with punters calling for the same grizzly end for Spencer as Dick Turpin received on the Knavesmire almost 300 years earlier. The rider had other ideas.
Kyllachy soon started to pick his way past rivals and found just enough daylight to be able to unleash his ferocious acceleration. So speedy, he had reached the leaders by the furlong marker and, with the far rail to guide him, never flinched as Spencer asked for maximum effort to win by half a length.
"I've got vivid memories and it was quite extraordinary," said Candy, looking back with the Front Runner over the weekend. "I couldn't believe what I was watching but it worked.
"One day, a long time afterwards, I asked Jamie, 'Did you tell anybody you were going to do that?' He replied, 'Yes, I told my mum the night before.' He's a law unto himself but he's brilliant. It was unbelievable and one of the most pleasurable wins to look back on."
Spencer's celebration was a belter. Standing bolt upright like Ruby Walsh in his irons, he looks shellshocked as he starts to wave his whip hysterically at the crowd.
While Kyllachy was only four at the time, he had had only four fewer runs heading into the Nunthorpe compared to Twilight Calls, who is a year older but lightly raced with just 15 career starts to his name.
Second in last year's King's Stand and fourth in the same race this season, Twilight Calls is certainly on the cusp of what is required to land a Group 1, albeit he has not been the easiest sprinter Candy has ever trained and has not been seen in competitive action since Royal Ascot in June.
"We were trying to get him to Goodwood for the King George Stakes," said Candy, "but one of his joints played up a little bit so we gave it a miss. As it turned out the ground would have been far too soft for him at Goodwood anyway. He's a little bit fragile."
Candy also saddled Limato to finish second to Mecca's Angel in the 2016 Nunthorpe and is looking forward to another tilt with Twilight Calls.
"He's training nicely and the plan at the moment is to run him on Friday," said the trainer. "He looks lovely and I think he's at his peak."
Asked if he believed Twilight Calls could win a Group 1 if the cards fell right, the trainer added: "Yes, I do, but he's a hold-up horse and you need all the luck in the world - it's as simple as that."
Candy had provisionally booked Ryan Moore for the ride but was waiting to speak to Chris Richardson, racing manager to Cheveley Park Stud, owners of Twilight Calls, about a replacement jockey after Moore was claimed for the Nunthorpe ride on The Antarctic for Aidan O'Brien. Kyllachy stood successfully as a stallion at the stud until 2017.
"I'm not sure who will ride him," said Candy. "We've had Ryan booked for the last few weeks but we'll sort it out."
Away from Twilight Calls, Candy said he is looking a little thin on the ground as far as the Ebor meeting is concerned but confirmed his July Cup runner-up Run To Freedom is working back from the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 9, a race the 78-year-old won in 2015 with Twilight Son, the sire of Twilight Calls.
Monday's picks, by Richard Birch
It’s hard to look beyond The Dancing Poet in Catterick’s 1m4f Millbry Hill Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap (2.25).
The Brian Ellison-trained seven-year-old seeks a hat-trick in the race, having won it in 2021 and 2022 under Simon Walker.
Those victories were achieved off marks of 70 and 68 respectively, and he is able to compete this time off 62.
Don’t get the impression he is well handicapped on old form because he is no longer capable of reproducing his best efforts.
The Dancing Poet ran a blinder at Doncaster in June when beaten a neck by the nicely treated Blow Your Horn, who franked the form by landing his next two starts at Beverley and Pontefract.
His Catterick form figures in 1m4f handicaps read 13131 and his figures when partnered by Walker are 113.
That sole defeat came over 2m, and it’s pertinent that all four of The Dancing Poet’s Flat turf wins have been recorded at 1m4f.
You don’t need the imagination of Steven Spielberg to work out that this race has been his main aim since the start of the season, and there are few better target trainers than Ellison.
Drying, good to soft ground won’t bother The Dancing Poet, who has an outstanding chance of continuing his domination of this £8,000 race.
Three things to look out for on Monday
1. It has the potential to be a good day for Hollie Doyle at Brighton, a track where she routinely excels. Doyle boasts 24 winners from 134 rides at the East Sussex course, which is an 18 per cent strike-rate. Backing all 134 rides to a £1 level stake would have returned a £7.59 profit and she finished outside the first two on just one of her five rides at the course last week. She has a decent book of five rides today, including course-and-distance winner Batchelor Boy in the last at 4.55, and the consistent Galileo Glass at 4.25.
2. Grand National-winning trainer Emmet Mullins sends his first runner to Bangor today and it does not take much imagination to foresee him ending the day with a 100 per cent track record. Slate Lane (5.30) was a warm order to make a winning stable debut when hacking up at Cartmel at the end of June and starts life in handicap company off a realistic rating of 103 today. Donagh Meyler again takes the ride and, while the likes of Champ Royal and Camilla's Choice were also winners last time, Slate Lane will be hard to beat if in the same form as he was at Cartmel.
3. If there's one race not to miss today with the future in mind, then the 6f maiden at Lingfield (6.50) is perhaps it. Both Shadwell and Godolphin unleash homebred newcomers, while Invincible Molly is another intriguing runner making her debut for Ralph Beckett. Movie Maker, a son of Invincible Spirit, represents Saeed bin Suroor and Godolphin, while the William Haggas-trained Elmonjed, a son of Blue Point, carries the colours of Shadwell. Also in the line-up is Cajetan, who has shown plenty of promise in two runs already for Jack Channon, and the race should provide plenty of future winners.
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The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.
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