Tabletalk is ridden out by Rossa Ryan© Photo Healy Racing
Tabletalk finished with a flourish to claim top honours in the Sky Bet Melrose Handicap at York.
Although down the field as a 100-1 shot for the Derby in early June, Tom Clover’s Chelmsford maiden winner proved he remains a colt of some promise when third on his handicap debut at Ascot last month.
He faced a step up in trip and class on the Knavesmire, but proved more than up to the task under a well-timed ride from Rossa Ryan.
Never too far off the pace, the 12-1 chance saw out the one-mile-six-furlong trip well to score by a length and a quarter from Aidan O’Brien’s The Equator.
Clover said: “That was extremely pleasing. He looked the winner the whole way round. He’d been shaping up nicely at home and he seems to be improving.
“I was thrilled to see him handle the ground so well, as that was a slight question mark for me, and he stayed on strong over the trip.
“He’s a very exciting prospect. It’s great for the whole team at home who’ve worked very hard. He ran in the Derby and that was a really tough experience so we gave him a bit of time, he’s a big horse and I think he’ll make up into a lovely four-year-old.
“He has a very patient owner who let me train him where we wanted to go. He ran a very good race at Ascot last time and he’s come to himself nicely.”
Elmonjed took a step forward to land the Sky Bet Constantine Handicap for William Haggas and Tom Marquand.
The gelding, who is owned and bred by Shadwell, benefited from the application of blinkers when winning at Windsor last time out in a six-furlong handicap.
Over the same trip at York as the 7-2 favourite under Tom Marquand, the bay began to make swift progress a furlong from home and put his head down to prevail by three-quarters of a length.
“He’s very tough, the team have put the headgear on him because previously everyone felt he was just idling,” said Angus Gold of Shadwell.
“We thought it would help him concentrate, he’s a horse who has always hit a flat spot in his races and then has stayed on as if he wants seven (furlongs).
“He’s won twice at six now and he’s by Blue Point, so I guess we’ll stay at six for the time being but I wouldn’t be amazed if he got further in the future.
“We’ll take it one step at a time, he’s not the biggest horse in the world but we’ll probably see if he’s good enough for a little black-type race somewhere.”
Andrew Balding’s Tropical Storm struck to take the Julia Graves Roses Stakes under Oisin Murphy as the 5-2 favourite.
The two-year-old demonstrated his ability when second in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, a race in which he came home a length behind Karl Burke’s Shareholder.
He did not shed his maiden tag in the six-furlong Richmond at Goodwood last time out when finishing eighth, but back over the minimum trip, he made light work of his 15 rivals to win by a neck.
“It’s a nice way to break his maiden, we’ve just been learning a bit about him,” said Balding.
“We’ve always liked the look of him, he did too much in the Richmond at Goodwood and just didn’t get home, so for obvious reasons we’ve come back to five.
“He’s a half sister to Purosangue and she was second in this race last year, so they’re a talented family and they’re all about speed.
“I think we’ll stay at five furlongs, there’s a nice programme for him through the rest of the season.”
The concluding Sky Bet Finale Handicap was claimed by Brandon Wilkie and the popular Sir Busker, a prior winner of the York Stakes who led home stablemate Dual Identity over the same course and distance after the two horses started as 14-1 and 15-2 chances respectively.
