© Photo Healy Racing
James Doyle got the fractions spot on as he came with a late run on Shadow Dance to win the Sky Bet Handicap at York.
The four-year-old had disappointed on his first run since being gelded at Royal Ascot, but bounced back to run well at Ripon last time out when touched off by Ebor contender Iron Lion.
Grey Cuban led the field into the straight, where Qitaal took over only to be swamped by Dark Moon Rising.
The latter had a break on the field with a furlong to run, but when Doyle switched Roger Varian’s grey to the middle of the track he picked up well and had enough in hand to hold the late run of Lieber Power by a neck, with Dark Moon Rising back in third.
“Winners at the biggest meetings is what it’s all about. He’s a homebred and he’s a lovely horse. He’s got a big heart and a lot of stamina, and he needed every inch of the trip today,” Varian said of the 6-1 winner.
“We came into the year very hopeful with this horse, he didn’t have a great spring and I ran him at Royal Ascot in the Duke of Edinburgh, he wasn’t quite right that day.
“But the run at Ripon was a step in the right direction, and he should go on and have a good autumn.
“If you looked at the entries, he was in four places this weekend. Today was as quick as he wants and maybe that little rain last night just took the sting out of the ground. We came to the right race.”
Ed Walker continued his brilliant week in North Yorkshire by landing the Assured Data Protection EBF Fillies’ Handicap with Canoodled.
The six-year-old was stepping up to a mile and a quarter for the first time on the Knavesmire and it seemed to do the trick as the 25-1 shot won by a a length and a half under Billy Loughnane.
Walker, recording his third winner of this year’s Ebor Festival following a double on Thursday, said of his latest success: “It was amazing, a real pleasant surprise. She’s a funny filly, she’s quirky and a bit of rain last night helped. She was going up in trip and she jumped, so it’s great.
“We will try and get some black type in the autumn with her, like we did last year.
“We’ve had an amazing couple of days, it’s sort of pitch yourself stuff really. It is one of the hardest meetings in the world, so it’s amazing.”
