FLAMING SPEAR landed the feature race at Kempton tonight, the Listed race over a mile and so guaranteed his place at the All-Weather Championships at Lingfield in the spring.
The highly talented chestnut can be quirky and has not always been a model of good behaviour in the stalls but tonight he was an angel. Drawn two of 11, he broke well under regular pilot, Robert Winston and was always handy although he was keen early on.
Two furlongs from home, the six-year-old son of Lope De Vega made his move and was ridden to lead a furlong from home after which the result never really looked in doubt as he won by three-quarters of a length from the runner-up, Hathal.
Currently rated 109, the top-rated horse in the yard, Flaming Spear is sure to go up a pound or two for his victory tonight. His win record is a fine six from twenty starts and he has won £195,000 in career earnings to date, nearly half of which he has won since joining the stable earlier this year. His first run for the yard was in June of this year when fifth in the Royal Hunt Cup and two runs later, he won the £62,000 first prize in a mile handicap at Goodwood.
November is proving a fruitful time for Harper Lodge Farm with tonight’s win the fifth success to date at a strike rate of 20%. This is the joint best month of the year along with February but with nine days to go, hopefully the eleventh month of the year will prove the best.
The yard is currently on 35 wins for the year with over £535,000 in prize money. This is the fourth year running it has won £1/2 million in prize money and who’s to say the yard won’t equal or beat the best ever tally of 39 wins, recorded in 2013?