Sardinian Warrior looked a Group horse in a handicap as he took the class two feature over a mile at Southwell last weekend, with the handicapper handing him a revised rating of 107.
In winning by four lengths, John & Thady Gosden’s three-year-old was completing a three-timer at the Nottinghamshire course following a pair of equally dominant novice wins.
Sardinian Warrior was not the only horse to be given a 10lb rise, with the Martin Todhunter-trained Molinari also receiving a double-digit hike to 74 after routing the opposition by eight and a half lengths at Newcastle.
Heathcliff has the BetUK All-Weather Sprint Championships as a long-term objective following his latest success at Kempton Park.
James Fanshawe’s three-year-old travelled smoothly in midfield and only needed to be pushed out to comfortably defy a rating of 85 in a seven-furlong class two handicap.
Heathcliff has now won four of his last six starts on the all-weather, including a Racing League handicap over six furlongs at Newcastle in August.
Tom Fanshawe, assistant to his father, said afterwards: “Heathcliff is a big, scopey horse and you would like to think that we have not seen the best of him yet.
“It was a nasty looking race. There were a lot of horses in there who looked like they had more to come, plus some with very good all-weather form. Heathcliff has been doing his winning in 0-85s, so this was a step up for him after a break.
“Heathcliff has a good cruising speed but, when he comes off the bridle, it takes him a bit of time to warm up and get into top gear. I think seven furlongs at Kempton or six furlongs at Newcastle are perfect for him in that respect.
“Good Friday is the plan. It is whether we give Heathcliff another run before Christmas or put him away now and go for two runs in the New Year.
“His owners the Hoppers and the Morrises have been brilliant supporters of ours. They are the same partners involved in Kind Of Blue and have had an unbelievable year. With Kind Of Blue going to Wathnan, they wanted a horse to run in their colours and it’s great that they will be rewarded with hopefully a fun winter now.”
The same Kempton Park fixture saw another significant performance, with Military Academy taking the Listed Floodlit Stakes in commanding fashion for John & Thady Gosden.
Simon & Ed Crisford have captured the last two editions of the BetMGM Winter Oaks and look to have another potential contender in Charlotte’s Web, who comfortably took a 10-furlong handicap at Newcastle.
Over in Ireland, Slieve Binnian continued his fine strike rate at Dundalk as he claimed a 12-furlong handicap for Mick Halford & Tracey Collins. Now four from five at the track, he looks one to watch in the Middle Distance category.
The first leg of France’s Polytrack Challenge – the Listed Prix Irish River – took place at Deauville over the weekend, with UK raider Mount Athos taking the spoils for James Tate.
My Cloud, a half-brother to multiple G1 winner Palace Pier, was among several eye-catching novice winners for Roger Varian as he scored by 13 lengths at Newcastle. Stable-mate Spetses impressed in winning at Southwell two days later and both three-year-olds could be out again in the coming weeks.
