Kirstenbosch has Pride Stakes date on her radar
The Pride Stakes at Newmarket could be the next objective for Kirstenbosch after chasing home the brilliant Enable at Kempton on Saturday.
James Fanshawe’s filly was a 33-1 shot for the Group Three September Stakes, having finished fifth in the Upavon Fillies’ Stakes at Salisbury last month on what was her first competitive appearance of 2020.
And while the daughter of Mount Nelson was predictably no match for John Gosden’s dual Arc heroine, Kirstenbosch delighted her connections as she narrowly beat the globetrotting Melbourne Cup contender Prince Of Arran to the runner-up spot.
Enable wins the Unibet September Stakes – a twelfth win on UK Soil brings the curtain down on an amazing career.
Next stop, Paris
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Fanshawe said: “Poor old Kirstenbosch, she barely got a mention! Obviously all the attention was on Enable and nobody really noticed Kirstenbosch ran the race of her life to be second.
“She got some black type, which was the plan, and we were delighted with her.
“We might look at the Pride Stakes at Newmarket (October 9) next.”
The Newmarket handler was similarly pleased with the performance of stable stalwart The Tin Man in the Sprint Cup at Haydock.
Winner of the race in 2018 and narrowly denied by Hello Youmzain in last year’s renewal, the eight-year-old finished sixth on this occasion, but was beaten only four lengths.
Fanshawe would like to lower The Tin Man’s sights in an attempt to help him bag a first win since his triumph on Merseyside two years ago.
He added: “He ran a good race. The draw didn’t help. I don’t like making excuses, (but) if he’d been drawn on the other side he might have finished a bit closer.
“He’s come out of the race very well. He seems to have been in as good a form as he’s ever been this year at home and he’s run three very good races, I think.
“It would be nice to find him something a bit easier, but there aren’t many opportunities for him – you’ve got the Bengough Stakes at Ascot two weeks before the Champions Sprint, otherwise you’re looking at five and seven-furlong races.”
Fanshawe also ran 50-1 outsider Archer’s Dream in the Sprint Cup, but she was ultimately well-beaten in 10th place.
He said: “We were probably asking a bit much from her, but having won over the course and distance on soft ground the time before, we decided to give it a go as you never know what can happen in these races.
“She seems fine since and I think we might drop her back to five furlongs next time.”
