Hughes out for more Sprint success with Bint Archange

Richard Hughes enjoyed two Weatherbys Super Sprint victories as a jockey and will now bid to add the race to his record as a trainer when the talented Bint Archange lines up at Newbury.

The daughter of Ubettabelieveit built on her promising Newmarket debut with a runaway victory at Ascot on her second start – and while a bitterly disappointing run in the Queen Mary left connections confused, she bounced back in style when claiming Listed honours in Sandown’s Dragon Stakes.

Hughes is now looking forward to competing for a slice of the £275,000 prize fund on offer this weekend, and said: “She’s got a kind draw (stall 20), I’m really happy with where she is and she seems nice and fresh after Sandown so I’m looking forward to giving it a go.

“She ran hard all the way at Sandown and still won well and the horse who tried to take her on (Adam Kirby’s reopposing Bill The Bull) finished out the back, so I think that was a good run.

“It would be great to win this for Jaber (Abdullah, owner) as it’ll pay a few of the bills for some of the others and it’s always a race we were thinking of after she got some black type.

“We were bitterly disappointed at Ascot but we still don’t know why she performed as she did. Maybe she was in season but we still don’t know for certain. The fact she didn’t beat any horse meant I was keen to put a line through it and she bounced back and did it well at Sandown.

“Hopefully we’re on the right track with her now.”

Hughes’ previous victories in the race came during his long association with the Hannon family, who have regularly taken home the hefty bounty on offer.

Richard Hannon has won it four times since since taking over the license from his father, who in fact won the race a record seven times having originally come up with the idea for the contest.

This time around the Herridge operation is represented by Goodwood scorer Rollthedicebaby, From Me To You, Call Me Tomorrow, Leucothea and Clueisinthetitle.

Another local trainer notable for their two-year-old prowess is Clive Cox, who has saved Sky Secret for this race since he opened his account at the second of asking at Leicester in early May.

Cox said: “He’ll appreciate the ground and he’s had a little bit of a quiet time after winning at Leicester, but that has always been the plan and I’m happy he comes here really well.

“I’m hopeful the absence of a run doesn’t pose too many problems and he fits the profile for this race well. He’s a progressive colt who showed a great deal of speed at the weekend.”

Archie Watson’s Vollering has run with real credit in deep contests in Ireland and France since making a winning debut at Redcar, while Richard Spencer is set to saddle both Etienne and Zigazig Ah, with the former the apparent first string following a near-miss over six furlongs at Newmarket on debut.

Spencer said: “He’s come out of the race well and hopefully taken a big step forward from his debut.

“Dropping back to five furlongs I don’t think would be a problem. He’s got plenty of speed and with the run under his belt, I think he’ll be a lot sharper.

“I think it’s key that he’s had a run and had a day out and seen the racecourse once. He should run very well and he’s a homebred by Rajasinghe out of Odyssey Girl, who won on debut at Newbury and ran in the Super Sprint.

“He’s going there with a good weight. I think you know the opposition is going to be tough and there’s a lot of runners, but I think he’s probably one on the right side of the weights and ability-wise, I think he’ll be bang there.”