McBride's highly stressful week ends in Spiritual contentment

It had been a long week for trainer Charlie McBride and his face told a story of relief, joy and pride as he greeted Spiritual Lady after her impressive victory in the Listed Irish Stallion Farms Bosra Sham EBF Fillies’ Stakes.

McBride, unlike the rest of us, had not been enjoying the unseasonal October sunshine as the prospect of quick ground might have potentially scuppered his plans to unleash his stable star for the first time since she was withdrawn at the stalls when favourite for the Weatherbys Hamilton £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes at Doncaster last month.

Having walked the course and consulted with his owners, McBride decided to let his filly take her chance and she produced a classy performance to slam her rivals by a length and a half under Frankie Dettori, who produced a crowd-pleasing flying dismount afterwards.