Big Evs and Tom Marquand © Photo Healy Racing
The heart-warming Big Evs story continued at Goodwood on Friday afternoon, as Mick Appleby’s star sprinter darted to a super victory in the King George Qatar Stakes.
A rapid juvenile who flew home to land the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot on his second start last year, the colt then encountered totally different going at a damp Goodwood this time 12 months ago.
Soft ground could not stop him from landing the Molecomb, and although he was not able to serve it up to the older sprinters in the Nunthorpe he bounced straight back to form in the Flying Childers at Doncaster next time out.
A trip to Santa Anita resulted in an unforgettable success in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, and he silenced the usual questions good juveniles face about their ability at three when winning the Westow Stakes at York on his debut this year.
At Royal Ascot he held his own in the King Charles III Stakes, but missed out to the Australian raider Asfoora, who prevailed by a length with Regional behind her and Big Evs a further half-length back in third.
At Goodwood the Australians were back to claim more prize-money, but fan favourite Big Evs was the 13-8 market leader on good to firm ground with Tom Marquand on board.
In a contest that was perhaps slightly undersold by its Group Two status, Appleby’s colt blazed along, but faced a late challenge as Asfoora loomed up beside him in the final half-furlong.
In a neck and neck battle to the line it was Big Evs who just had the upper hand, doing connections proud once again in claiming victory by just a short head.
For Paul Teasdale, who owns the horse with his wife Rachael, the win was another chapter in an emotional story as Big Evs is named after a cherished late friend in Paul Evans.
“It means so much to us,” said Teasdale, who on Wednesday won this year’s Molecomb with the Appleby-trained Big Mojo.
“He’s amazing. He means everything to me. Because of who he is named after it’s always an emotional day, it’s quite tough now with the level of expectation.
“He’s fantastic. The good thing about him is he can take the early speed and then he can stay there, he can cruise at that speed.
“He can always finish as well, even when Asfoora came up to him, who is a great horse, we were pretty confident about getting across the line first.”
There will be more to come, and although the colt is set to bow out at the end of the season there is still a top-level campaign to be enjoyed as he makes his way back to the Breeders’ Cup in November.
“I think he’s quicker than he was last year, I think he’s got Breeders’ Cup written all over him,” said Teasdale.
“He’s going to the Nunthorpe and then we’ll go the Abbaye if the ground is right, then the Breeders’ Cup.”
