Jockey William Buick brought up a century of successes at the highest level when partnering Mill Stream to victory in today’s Group One My Pension Expert July Cup.
Carrying the familiar colours of veteran owner Peter Harris, the four-year-old Gleneagles colt got up to deny Swingalong by a neck in the £600,000 six-furlong contest, which forms part of the QIPCO British Champions Series.
Buick said: “He has been such a good horse for me this season. He is a Duke of York winner and ran well at Royal Ascot. We felt he had a bit more to give and Jane and the team convinced me he was a much better horse today – he duly was.
“That bit of rain really suited him and I was always so comfortable. He is really genuine and puts his head out. It was well deserved.
“This is my first July Cup and I’m absolutely thrilled.”
Successful trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam said: “It was hard to take third at Ascot but to come on and win at my local track is important – I am thrilled.
“We knew there was going to be a lot of speed upfront and so I just left it to William – he is the master and knows the horse well. We just thought they’d burn up and he just had to sit, wait and pounce, which he did.
“Today is ours. This is my home track and my favourite track so it’s good. His owner Peter Harris knows the game and I’m a very lucky lady to have him as an owner. He believes in this horse.
“We could now look at going to Deauville. If you look at his history a three-week gap between races suits him and the six and a half furlongs there will suit him.”
Karl Burke, trainer of runner-up Swingalong (22-1), said: “I am gutted that we got beat but she is such a game filly and wears her heart on her sleeve and everyone knows how she is going to run.
“I think there are two things – there was the extra rain which suited the winner and maybe if Art Power hadn’t taken us on. But they are things you can’t control and she has run a fantastic race.
“She will go to Haydock now for the Betfair Sprint Cup and we’ll pray it doesn’t rain as that could be a brilliant race for her.”
A further length and three quarters back in third was the first of the three-year-olds home, Vandeek (4-1).
Simon Crisford, who trains the son of Havana Grey jointly with his son Ed, remarked: “He has run a really good race. He was just lacking match practice and in effect that was like his first run of the season, which has caught him out.
“Missing Ascot was a huge problem for us as he has come here today in a championship race without any warm-up. He has acquitted himself with great credit and we’ll get busy for the rest of the season now. We will talk to Sheikh Khaled and think about the Prix Maurice de Gheest in a couple of weeks.”
