One in, one out: Tempus new 'miracle horse' for Hambleton as Glen Shiel retired

Thursday: Salisbury

On the day Hambleton Racing confirmed the retirement of star sprinter Glen Shiel, the latest "miracle horse" emerged for the syndicate when Tempus continued his fine season with a breakthrough at Group level in the Sovereign Stakes.

In the space of 13 months Glen Shiel progressed from finishing a tame fifth in a 1m2f Chelmsford handicap at 25-1 to bursting clear to claim Group 1 honours over six furlongs on British Champions Day.

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at the same illustrious end-of-season meeting is now on the agenda for Tempus following his Group 3 victory. Hollie Doyle was clearly unfazed by Thursday's blistering hot conditions as she coolly stalked favourite Modern News and then pressed ahead in the closing stages.

Like Glen Shiel and Hambleton's Listed-race winner Outbox, Tempus has proved extraordinary value at just 25,000gns and has flourished since moving to trainer Archie Watson.

Simon Turner, the syndicate's director of racing, said: "We had Glen, Outbox and now him all picked up for relatively ordinary amounts and they've done fantastic things on the racecourse. We keep trying to find these miracle horses and it's amazing to have days like this for all the owners that enjoy it.

"The owners are such a happy and proud group which is great to see. He was a relatively cheap horse but he looks a proper Group horse now, which is fantastic.

"He's going from strength to strength, we made the entry for the QEII because it's perfectly feasible he'd run well and I'd say he's highly likely to represent us at Ascot."

Eight-year-old Glen Shiel was retired after failing to land a blow on three starts this season. He won twice for Andre Fabre before in 2020 joining Watson, for whom he captured a further six races and also finished second at Group 1 level on three occasions.

Archie Watson: genius in getting horses to progressCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

"We're very pleased Glen is going out intact and off to a happy retirement," Turner added. "He was just an unbelievable horse, you could say a fairytale horse but we've had Outbox and now Tempus as well. Archie is just a genius how he gets these horses to progress."

Exciting prospect

Sea On Time only beat two runners to justify odds-on favouritism in the 1m4f fillies' handicap but Tom Marquand could not hide his excitement after the easy win.

The William Haggas-trained three-year-old completed a hat-trick by two and a quarter lengths and bigger things await.

"She's progressing really nicely in typical fashion of William's – she looks pretty exciting," said a grinning Marquand. "That was off a mark of 90 but clearly she's going to be a stakes filly.

"I wonder how much she's got in the tank because she's doing everything off raw ability. This was a big step forward, who knows where her ceiling is?"

Top apprentice

Mollie Phillips enjoyed her first winner at the track aboard Trusty Rusty in the 6f fillies' handicap. It continues a good spell for the apprentice, with this her fifth winner in the last fortnight.

Results, replays and analysis

For all our exclusive free bet offers and must-have daily promotions click the free bets button or go to racingpost.com/freebets