Last Friday saw Philos and Royal Praise both win at Chelmsford to bring up a double that would have paid out at odds of 1800 – 1!
The very likeable, yard favourite, Philos scored for the 4th time in his career on his favourable AW surface for owner – The Boss – ridden by Rab Havlin. His win over the 1m6f trip came as less of a surprise than the second leg of the double.
Royal Praise, owned by Mike and Shirley Cross, is a lightly raced 3 y-o gelded son of Acclamation who has not shown a huge amount of promise on the racecourse, up until now – illustrated by his starting price of 100/1! The step up in trip and positive tactics, combined with a strong signature Silvestre De Sousa ride saw significant improvement to a horse that has taken time to mature both mentally and physically. With luck Royal Praise is beginning to put everything together and can provide his owners with some more interesting days out this season.
Congratulations to connections including all the team at home.