'Awesome' Angel allays ground fears with dominant display

A week of rain, ante-post wobbles and re-jigged race times preceded the 32Red Sprint Cup. Then the rain stopped, the sun came out and the favourite won by four lengths.

Harry Angel had been a phone call away from not running after connections left it until after the first race to decide whether he would take part.

They made a positive call and Clive Cox's colt duly delivered one of the best performances in the race's recent history, making all under Adam Kirby and extending in the final furlong to beat Tasleet by four lengths despite the heavy ground.

In a parallel universe where those on the other end of a phone prove just a little more cautious, Tasleet takes a first Group 1 and the form behind is virtually unquestionable. He beats last year's runner-up The Tin Man, who again misses the break slightly, by a length and a half, with Blue Point, who leads a small group slightly closer to the far rail, another two and a half lengths back.

In reality they all had to play second fiddle to Harry Angel and Cox, no stranger to quick horses with Profitable and Lethal Force among those to have passed through his hands, said: "He's so potent. He's awesome. It's hard to change gear on ground like that but he's just lengthened away from them, and to beat them by four lengths is wonderful.

"I keep saying it, but we've had a great year and it's down to the great team we have at home."

Harry Angel is now a best-priced 6-4 to become the first horse to win the July Cup, Sprint Cup and Champions Sprint in the same year since the last-named race took on its current guise in 2011.

Cox suggested he hoped that would be the next target for the Godolphin-owned three-year-old.

He said: "Now we have no fears on the ground, that's where I'd like to go. There's a possibility he'll stay in training next year, too, and that would be very exciting. His body language is so strong, he's maturing all the time."

The performance – which earned a high Racing Post Rating of 127 – was Harry Angel's most complete yet. He broke sharply and made all, having to be restrained somewhat by Kirby in the early stages. After his initial burst, he showed his ability to maintain the pace as he galloped on in the final furlong to open a widening gap.

Tasleet's trainer William Haggas summed up the attitude of those huddled around the placed horses in the winner's enclosure. He said: "Tasleet ran a very good race, he eradicated that last run and he enjoyed the ground. He'll go to Ascot but so will Harry Angel, unfortunately."

It does seem increasingly a fool's errand to take on Harry Angel, whose adaptability on all ground is now proven as he has won on both firm and heavy ground at Haydock in the same season.

Of the morning doubts about his stable star's participation, an almost apologetic Cox said: "We just wanted to avoid the deja vu we had when Lethal Force [beaten favourite in 2013] ran in this. I was conscious that he was so fast – he broke the track record here in May on firm ground – and I just wondered if he'd be the type to handle heavy ground.

"It would have been easier to take him out, because you want to look after the horse. But credit to the team at Godolphin, they've let him take that jump into the unknown and he's repaid it."

Godolphin have been repaid with more than just a Group 1 win. Harry Angel might now lead the conversation over this year's champion sprinter, 78 days after he was beaten by Caravaggio at Royal Ascot.

32Red Sprint Cup result and analysis