Pirate relishes soft ground
(by Laura Stephens of racingpost.co.uk)
THE rejuvenated Bahamian Pirate relished the soft ground on the Knavesmire this afternoon to win the Nunthorpe Stakes under jockey-of-the-moment Seb Sanders. The race veteran, who had finished 7th and 8th in the last two renewals of this Group 1 contest,was the eldest in the line up at nine years old. The Dandy Nicholls-trained gelding, runner-up to stablemate Continent in the July Cup two years ago, was ending a run of 25 defeats at Group level since 2001.
The winner was settled slightly off thepace in the early exchanges, before being brought with a strong challenge to lead close home. The Tatling ran a similar race to fill second.
Aidan O'Brien's agonising decision to run One Cool Cat worked out reasonably well, with the Coolmore colt running on from the back to take third in the dying strides from Avonbridge, Jamie Spencer's mount arguably being unlucky in running.
Airwave flattered to deceive having raced in an unusually prominent position, and finished out of the placings despite looking to be going best of all two out.
Sanders told Channel 4 Racing: "He gave me a great ride. A furlong out I thought, as long as he goes through with it, he'll win. Brilliant, I can't say how happy I am."
Nicholls felt the soft ground had been a major factor in Bahamian Pirate's win.
He said: "The ground is the most important thing for him. He can compete on soft ground like this.
"He might be nine, but he doesn't look it and he is racing full of confidence at present."