Elm Park, one of the favourites for this season’s Classics after his victory in the Group One Racing Post Trophy last October, will be aimed at the Champions Day fixture at Ascot next month after recording his first win as a three-year-old here on Wednesday.
Andrew Balding’s colt was sent off odds-on at 4-7 after three of the seven declared runners for the Listed Fortune Stakes were withdrawn because of worsening ground on a miserably wet afternoon in Surrey.
Andrea Atzeni, his jockey, soon settled him in front and his class was enough to get him home as Gabrial, the second-favourite, tried but failed to land a blow in the final furlong.
Elm Park was last seen finishing down the field in the Derby at Epsom in early June, and emerged tender and jarred-up from his trip around the Downs on fast ground.
It has taken Balding more than three months to get him back to the track, but his proven ability on soft ground could be a useful asset as the Flat season moves towards its climax.
“I’m just pleased to have him back on the track,” Balding said. “He’s in two races on Champions Day [the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over a mile and the Champion Stakes over 10 furlongs] and we’ll probably make a decision that week on which one we will run him in.
“I’d have thought the ground is going to be on the slow side whatever, but I would think the likely opposition would be the biggest factor.”
Elm Park carries the colours of Qatar Racing, whose prime mover Sheikh Fahad al-Thani was denied victory in last Saturday’s St Leger with Simple Verse in the stewards’ room. An appeal against that decision is now expected to be heard next Wednesday, but the Sheikh, whose personal investment fund Qipco is the headline sponsor of Champions Day, will be delighted to have a contender for one of the card’s feature events.
“He’s won a Group One over a mile, so he’s not slow, and a stiff mile on soft ground might well suit him,” Balding said. “But we’ll see because I think it will be the owner’s decision nearer the time, but that’s blown the cobwebs away and we should have him in peak condition.”
“He was pretty sore after Epsom and we’d said we wouldn’t even consider running until mid-September, but he didn’t need any surgery and he’s come right. The team at home have done a fantastic job with him, and he’s been moving fantastic the last month.”
Balding is hopeful that Elm Park will remain in his stable for a four-year-old campaign.
“Again, that’s an owner’s decision,” he said, “but I’d have thought he’s still got a lot to do on the track.”
Atzeni, who was aboard Simple Verse at Doncaster, will also be delighted to have another major contender for the autumn Group Ones.
“He was entitled to do that on his two-year-old form and it was very straightforward,” the jockey said. “I think he’s a better horse with cut in the ground. On Derby day it was very quick and he hits the ground quite hard.
“Last year the ground on Champions Day was worse than this, so that’s a bonus, also he’s a fresh horse.”
Elm Park can be backed at 16-1 for the Qipco Champion Stakes with several leading firms, and 25-1 for the QEII.
