'He's always shown promise' - 625,000gns buy Vandeek defies slow start for dazzling debut victory

Simon and Ed Crisford look to have an exciting prospect on their hands with Vandeek, who overcame a difficult start to make an impressive winning debut in the 6f maiden.

The son of Havana Grey was well backed in the lead up, with his odds tumbling in from 4-1 to evens favourite, but almost threw away his chance in the stalls when he missed the break under Andrea Atzeni. 

However, the two-year-old quickly warmed to the task to catch the field before sweeping clear by three-quarters of a length. 

"He fluffed his lines at the start but would have learned a lot and it was a really nice performance in the end," joint-trainer Ed Crisford said.

"Andrea just said he fell asleep in the stalls, but he's got a very good mind so was able to creep back into the race. He's still quite green but he'll come on from this."

The eyecatching success came as no surprise to Crisford, after Vandeek was picked up from Tattersalls breeze-up sales in April for 625,000gns. 

He added: "He's always worked nicely but it's hard to tell where you stand until you get to the track. He's always shown promise though and it was nice to see it happen on the course. 

"In the next week or so we'll decide whether to go for another novice or something fancy. Time will tell, but hopefully come autumn he'll be running in some nice races."

Maiden no more

Miss Dolly Rocker earned a well-deserved first victory with a comfortable success in the 1m2f fillies' novice stakes. 

The three-year-old had finished in the top three in all five of her starts previously and finally shed her maiden tag for Roger Teal and Jason Watson. 

Read these next:

'It means everything' - amateur jockey marks her grandad's 70th birthday in style  

'That's a game changer' - Georgie Nicholls kick-starts new era with Newbury winner  

Racing Post Members' Club: subscribe for just £9.99 this summer  

Sign up here. 18+. New UK+IRE customers only. Certain deposit methods and bet types excluded. Minimum first £/€5 bet within 14 days of account reg at minimum odds 1/2 to get 4x £/€5 free bets. Free bets available to use on selected sportsbook markets only. Free bets valid for seven days. Stake not returned. Restrictions and T&Cs apply. Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators that our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing.