Watch a full rerun of the Betway Pinnacle Stakes at Haydock on Saturday, plus the reaction from winning jockey David Probert.

By Nick Seddon

Jockey David Probert is excited about the improvement The moon (5-2), who produced a career best effort by sealing a decisive victory in Group 3 Betway Pinnacle Stakes at Haydock Park for Team Henry Candy.

The five-year-old built on a winning return to the Listed Nottinghamshire Oaks in Nottingham last month and Probert considers the Champs Elysees girl better than ever after registering a comfortable one-and-a-half length success in the contest mile and a half.

He said: “She is a lovely mare and she has really excelled this season. We feared the ground would dry out enough but she regained form in defeat under more difficult conditions. She really enjoyed the mile and a half today and saw it well.

David Probert on The Moon

“She was relentless at Nottingham and it was on pretty fast pitch and the way she did it today was pretty exciting. I’m going to talk to Henry (Candy) and the owners, but she has that kind of profile (for the Lancashire Oaks). “

Speaking away from the track, winning coach Henry Candy added, “She’s so genuine and just wants to please. You don’t have many like that and she’s an absolute superstar – she’s absolutely tiny but she has a huge stride and a huge heart.

“I was worried about the pitch earlier in the week and it wasn’t ideal for her, but she’s been there. I have nothing in mind at all and I do it step by step. I am delighted that she was able to win a group race.

It was a quality card at Haydock on Saturday and alongside the two group races is the Listed Betway Achilles Stakes over five stages, which was won by coached Andrew Balding. King’s lynn (3-1 Favorite), which wears the colors of Her Majesty the Queen. King’s Lynn moved closer to the house to score with a neck from Moss Gill.

Watch how King’s Lynn scored at Haydock

The four-year-old has an entry at next month’s One King’s Stand Stakes booth at Royal Ascot and speaking off the course Balding said the royal reunion was high on the agenda for the Cable Bay gelding.,

He said: “He’s done very little harm in all of his starts and he’s still run reasonably light for a horse his age. He has the right to keep improving, I hope, and I’m very happy. from him.

“He’s in the king’s stand and now has a penalty kick in Wokingham but those are the two goals. It’s one or the other. But at this point, we’ll wait and see what the opposition looks like. We are delighted (to have a horse heading to Royal Ascot for The Queen). “

Winning jockey Oisin Murphy added, “He’s learning to sprint now. I was disappointed at Newbury but he probably needed a fraction of it and he had a good run on a corner track in Chester last time around when he got a bit lost. Today was a huge step forward in form and I am delighted with the horse. It was a decent Listed level and had a bit to find on the notes, so we’ll see more.

It had turned out to be a good start to the day for Murphy, who also won the first race on the map, driving the Hughie Morrison-driven. Quickthorn (3-1 Favorite) for a decisive victory in the Heed Your Hunch At Betway handicap over a mile and a half.

The four-year-old is lightly raced for his age and had his first start in 318 days, but he showed the advantage of a gelding operation by sealing an eight-and-a-half-year success under the champion jockey.

And Murphy thinks there could be more to come from Nathanial’s son. He said, “He’s an improver. He had a few little issues and that’s why you haven’t seen him much but Lord and Lady Blyth raise some really nice horses and I think this one fits in that category – it was a good performance and I like him. It is so easy to drive and straightforward. Hughie Morrison’s horses really fly.

Murphy is riding this afternoon although he missed his last three trips to Yarmouth yesterday with a toothache and he said: “I am on Oxacillin because it is an infection and lots of painkillers but to try to get in at the dentist, you need a suitable hole in your head. right now! “

Meanwhile, it seems likely we’ll see the training of Eve Johnson Houghton Punchbowl Flyer (18-1) in some of the best sprint handicaps this summer, after pushing back the late charge of 4-1 favorite Bielsa to win by a nose in the Betway Handicap over six stages under Charlie Bishop.

Punchbowl Flyer just held in a thrilling finish

And the winning jockey explained that milder conditions are essential for the four-year-old, who really has the Ayr Gold Cup on his radar in September. He said: “We were worried about the terrain today and even the owners thought twice about the race, but with the drying up over the next two weeks they took their chance and it’s a good one. work they did.

“I tried to pinch him off the pole at three stages because he has good cruising speed, he can maintain it and he sees all six very well. I’m pretty sure if Bielsa was on our side we would have won anyway, but I was just a little worried that Silvestre (De Sousa) had his head down before mine, but luckily we got The verdict.

“Wherever he goes, it will depend on the terrain. He will be in big handicaps like the Wokingham, the Stewards’ Cup and the Ayr Gold Cup and every time he is on the ground we will take our chances. The Ayr Gold Cup has kind of been the plan since last year when he started to progress and he should be pretty high in the weights now that he can compete in those kinds of races and I don’t think that will matter. of its marking on the way up. because he is so good on difficult terrain.

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