Generic (18/1) paid a handsome compliment to Constitution River as he recorded a decisive victory in the G3 Hampton Court Stakes for Andrew Balding.
Seven lengths behind the Prix du Jockey Club winner at Chester, Generic was well placed turning in and picked up nicely to complete a double on the day for James Doyle. The winning distance was a length from 11/8 favourite Endorsement, with Glacius (33/1) taking third on his first start since October.
A son of Kameko, Generic carries the familiar colours of Jeff Smith, who previously won the Hampton Court Stakes 20 years ago with Snoqualmie Boy.
Balding said: “I thought James gave Generic a peach of a ride and was always confident that, when he peeled out, he was going to find something. I am delighted.
“I remember I was at St Mary’s [Southampton Football Club] the day he won at Yarmouth, watching it on a little phone, thinking we probably had a decent horse, and it looks the case now. He was very difficult to train last year – he was quite heavy and had a few soundness issues, but he was gelded over the winter and it’s made all the difference.
“I think we have to let the dust settle now and look at our options, but I think this is the ideal trip and he’s the type of horse who could go travelling, so we’ll look at some nice international races.”
Doyle said: “This fellow is super, expertly trained by Andrew and his team. I am always lucky that Andrew puts me on some nice horses and we’ve had a bit of luck together. Sadly, Gewan passed away and we had a big winner in the Dewhurst with him. And Jeff Smith – fantastic, I bet he enjoyed that. It was great to get the monkey off my back earlier on and nice to ride a winner for Wathnan. Hopefully there are a few more to come – this one feels like a Brucie Bonus!
“We rolled down the hill and, when they sorted themselves out, we were in a decent position. I had Ryan just to my outside. The only slight worry was getting a bit of daylight turning in. Ryan had the field quite compact and I had to skip across heels just to get into the clear. Then I was able to keep the guys in and go when I needed to. He was very brave up to the line and is quite an exciting horse for the guys.
“I thought Generic looked quite green at Chester – he looked a bit lost, was lugging into the inside fence and didn’t really get organised, but he kept going. It certainly gave me a bit of confidence and Oisin was very complimentary about him.”
Hugo Palmer said of Glacius: “I thought he ran amazingly. I think that, with a run, we would have won, but he wasn’t ready. Training horses is the only job in the world that, when things are going badly, you do less. When things are going badly in any other job, you double down, try harder and work harder.
“When horses aren’t there, when they’re not thriving, all you can do is back off them and let them come. We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for this horse. I had a lot of belief in him. He was in the Guineas, he was in the Derby and had all those opportunities, but he wasn’t there. He’s only been there for the last three weeks. I hope that we can go on from here and have a fun season.”