Polytrack return puts Missile back on target

If James Fanshawe was starting to despair of Sam Missile he can relax again now after a return to the scene of the colt's impressive debut yielded a 1m4f handicap win that was value for more than the head margin suggested.

“I thought a lot of him when he won here first time out, but he had become disappointing on grass so it looks as if this surface is key to him,” admitted Fanshawe, who could now try to qualify the Apple Tree Stud’s three-year-old for the Middle Distance Final, which will be run at the track on October 21.

Jockey Daniel Muscutt, who had ridden the first winner at Brighton and partnered Sam Missile to his first success, was most enthusiastic.