Pearl Secret could end long wait for repeat win

Fifteen years after last winning the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes, today’s Group One test for sprinters, David Barron hopes to repeat the feat with the highly-touted Pearl Secret.

This is a huge ask, even for a horse unbeaten from four starts.

However, two of those victories have come at York – but Thirsk-based Barron says the three-year-old is the fastest horse that he has ever trained.

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It is some accolade from a man regarded as a dab hand when it comes to handling speedsters.

“He’s a difficult horse to keep a lid on and for that reason we kept him in training all winter just to keep him under control,” said Barron, whose Coastal Bluff dead-heated with the Alex Greaves-ridden Ya Malak in 1997.

“I didn’t want him having two or three months idling about having learned nothing and being fresh and keen. We didn’t do an awful lot with him, just kept him in training. He’s a lovely horse, he looked a tremendous type of horse to start with. It’s very nice to get horses like him and I’ve never trained a quicker horse.”

This is a stellar race with William Buick confident about Australian speedster Ortensia, who prevailed at Goodwood.

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“She’s the best by far on what’s up against her,” he said. “She looks magnificent.”

However, Roger Charlton believes Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Bated Breath still has “a favourite’s chance”.

Heavy Metal landed the Group Two Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, hence his 3lb penalty in today’s Gimcrack Stakes. However, his Middleham trainer Mark Johnston is not worried about the weight hike.

“He deserves to be here – a repeat of his Goodwood run would put him right there,” he said.

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Intriguingly champion trainer Richard Hannon is happy to pitch Pearl Acclaim, owned like the Nunthorope prospect by Pearl Bloodstock Ltd, in at the deep-end following his facile victory at Ripon on Saturday.

“He won very easily and did not take a lot of out of himself,” he said.