Excellent Melrose victory for Ghostwatch

Ghostwatch impressed when winning the 16-runner Melrose Heritage Handicap at York, UK, on Saturday, 25 August.

The three-year-old son of Dubawi, gelded since his previous outing at Sandown Park on 26 July and carrying 8st 13lbs, broke well and moved up to take second after a furlong. William Buick took Ghostwatch into the lead with nearly three furlongs remaining and they soon went clear.

The Godolphin runner held on well as challengers tried to close the gap inside the final furlong, beating Supernova by a half-length in a new course record time of 2m 53.87s for the distance of 13 furlongs and 188 yards on good to firm going.

The victory provides Ghostwatch with a guaranteed spot in the £1-million Ebor Handicap a year from now.

Alex Merriam, assistant to trainer Charlie Appleby, commented: “He has shown in all in his races that he has plenty of ability and the gelding operation may have channelled it.

“We are very happy with the victory – they went a good even pace and William was in the right place.

“Ghostwatch has been in front for quite a time and you cannot knock him for getting tired towards the end. A lot of work goes on at home and it is nice when they win.

“The Ebor is a year away, a long way off, but Ghostwatch is progressing nicely and he is developing into a nice stayer so we will have to see what happens.

“We will get him home and assess how he comes out of this race before making decisions about what to do next.”

William Buick said: “Ghostwatch has not done a lot wrong in his races, just lugging in behind a couple of times.

“He was really concentrating today and is a strong stayer. I was happy to commit soon enough in the straight and he was there to be shot at but he stuck at it really well.

“He showed today that he stays really well and that is his forte – that is something to look forward to next year.”