ANGEL OF THE SOUTH broke her duck yesterday at Lingfield and her win saw Harper Lodge Farm break the £900,000 barrier in total prize money for 2017 in what has been another record year.
The 2yo grey daughter of Dark Angel was making her ninth appearance on the racecourse and she had placed form on the turf including two seconds at Windsor when beaten a neck and a short head. Last time out, she was second on her all-weather debut at Chelmsford when missing the break over five furlongs. This time, stepping back up in trip to six, the 9/2 shot made no mistake and gave an authoritative front-running display to win by two and three-quarter lengths from I Was Only Joking.
This was no more than Angel Of The South deserved according to jockey Robert Winston who said: “She went a bit weak in the middle of the season but she’s a bit stronger now and hopefully, it’s onwards and upwards.” Congratulations to winning owners, Heather and Michael Yarrow who collected the £10,000 bonus as it was a Plus 10 race.
The first prize of just over £3,500 took the stable to £900,222 in total prize for the calendar year. This was a 46% increase on last year’s total of some £614,000 which was itself a record for the yard. This year has been a record year for the stable for the fifth year running.
In terms of winners, Angel Of The South’s victory yesterday was the 38th success for Harper Lodge Farm this year, four more than last year and just one behind the previous best set in 2013. Forty-two per cent of all stable runs have been in the first four. With three days to go before the end of 2017, can the yard equal the record set in 2013?