G2 Sandown Success For Toormore As Lockinge Beckons

Toormore warmed up for his principal early-season target, the G1 Lockinge Stakes, with a battling victory in the G2 bet365 Mile at Sandown Park, UK, on Friday, April 22.

The Richard Hannon-trained five-year-old broke well and soon tracked Barchan (Roger Varian/Andrea Atzeni), who set a searching early gallop, and raced a close second of the seven runners for William Buick.

Toormore moved up to take the lead with a quarter-mile remaining but was joined on his outside by Dutch Connection, who cruised up strongly to dispute the running.

But the Godolphin horse rallied strongly and regained the advantage inside the final furlong.

Toormore went on to score by a neck in 1m 43.06s on good to soft going, with a length and a half back to Breton Rock.

Belardo (Roger Varian/James Doyle) was a neck further back in fourth, having kept on after racing at the rear of the field before starting to move up turning in.

Toormore will now head to Newbury for the G1 Lockinge Stakes over a mile on May 14, a race in which he was beaten a neck by Night Of Thunder in 2015.

Richard Hannon said: "I am delighted with Toormore. I thought that he might need the run - I took him to Manton a week ago and he worked very well - and he had a 3lb penalty, so he has done it very well.

"I thought they might have gone a bit quick today and Belardo was giving us a lot of leeway, so we were either going to be hard to peg back or he would peg us back in three strides.

"The second horse came travelling up to us very well but Toormore showed his courage.

He is a giant of a horse - he has been around a long time and we love him.

"This should put him spot on for Newbury now and we will stick to a mile. He can do seven furlongs no problem and William Buick said that Toormore has probably got the highest cruising speed of a lot of horses that he has ridden.

"We will go to the Lockinge and then work out the rest of the season from there. We could go on to the G1 Queen Anne Stakes (Royal Ascot) and the G1 Sussex Stakes (Glorious Goodwood) afterwards."

William Buick added: "Toormore is such a lovely horse and a real joy to ride. They went very quick but this horse has won like that before and he has also won from the front.

"It suited him early doors to have something to aim at. It looked like he was beaten a furlong and a half out but he really battled back.

"He came very close to winning the Lockinge last year and this was a very pleasing stepping stone to the same race. He is a very high-quality horse and deserves to win a G1."