'The wheels are firmly back on' - fast-improving Dear My Friend lands Listed event for Middleham Park

Middleham Park's Mike Prince believes Dear My Friend is back on track after he landed the Listed BetMGM Tandridge Stakes, and put his improvement down to recent wind and gelding operations.

Trained by Charlie Johnston, the four-year-old returned from a 129-day break to score at Newcastle on New Year's Day and came home a length and three-quarters clear of favourite Nine Tenths.

It was a second Listed win for Dear My Friend and Prince, who is director of operations for Middleham Park, is optimistic he can continue on the right path.

"The wheels are firmly back on," he said. "He was an exciting sort when he won the Listed Burradon last year, but ultimately he needed his wind doing and he needed gelding. As we went through the season it became more apparent.

"He came to hand a lot quicker after the operations than we thought he might, so we decided to crack on. He won nicely at Newcastle last time and was entitled to do what he did today. He looks like he's improving and he's pretty versatile in terms of his racing because he came from behind at Newcastle."

Dear My Friend, who finished 13th of 14 in last year's Derby, could now be aimed at the mile handicap on All-Weather Championships finals day at Newcastle on Good Friday.

Prince added: "There are bonuses to pick up and he has won at the track, but he needs to run three times to qualify. There's a race at Wolverhampton next month we might go for."

Happy Harry

The other Listed contest, the BetUK Kachy Stakes, went to Diligent Harry, who justified favouritism for Clive Cox, Ryan Moore and owners the Dilinquents.

Read these next:

State Man completes remarkable clean sweep of all eight Dublin Racing Festival Grade 1s for Willie Mullins 

'It was everything I wanted and more' - El Fabiolo thrills Willie Mullins with another easy Grade 1 success 

Five years of profit in a row for Ante-Post Pricewise - subscribe to Members' Club now with 50% off for Tom Segal's Cheltenham tips! 

   Do you want £700+ of free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.