The new Flat season couldn’t have got off to a better start for Strength Of Spirit, as he returned with a win on Musselburgh’s big Saturday card.
Not see since winning tidily at Newbury last year, Karl Burke typically had the progressive three-year-old in great order for his return to action at Musselburgh, where he lined up in a valuable handicap against some well touted and expensively recruited horses.
Sam James delivers a well-timed run
Settled in the rear division under Sam James, Strength Of Spirit was initially keen before settling down into a nice rhythm off the pace.
As the race developed, the pair made relentless headway, and it was clear they were going to play a big part in the finish from some way out.
Another value buy with Karl Burke
Challenging strongly to lead the field inside the final furlong, Strength Of Spirit, hit the line strongly to see off runner-up Vincenzo Peruggia, who cost 550,000gns as a yearling, more than 12 times our winners purchase price!
At Hambleton we pride ourselves on sourcing horses on realistic budgets that can punch way beyond their purchase price, with this success very much keeps that proud record of offering our owners the chance to buy racehorse shares in intelligently bought horses intact.
It was great to see Sam and Strength Of Spirit firmly on top in the closing stages to claim a valuable prize and the pair got a very warm welcome back into the winners enclosure from Spirit’s horse racing syndicate, many of whom were present to see their horse record his third win from just five starts.
Karl Burke targets further progress this spring
The exciting thing for his owners is elite trainer Karl Burke thinks there is more to come again from this progressive son of Ulysees and it’s highly likely he’ll be pointed towards some more valuable handicaps this spring as we look to place him to build on his fantastic start to the season.
With that in mind, we’re all looking forward to finding out where Karl points him towards next!
