Dream ending for The Tatling
Making his 176th and final racecourse appearance as a 14-year-old, Milton Bradley’s pride and joy was searching for an unlikely victory in the Dine In Horizons Restaurant Handicap.
The 2004 King’s Stand winner was slowly away, but Richard Kingscote was happy to play the waiting game in the rear.
Grand Stitch looked to have stolen a march on his rivals rounding the turn for home but once angled out wide, The Tatling rattled home to get up on the line for a short-head win, the 18th of his career.
Novabridge beat Grand Stitch by the same margin to finish second.
Bradley said: “I know it was only a small race, but what a wonderful story.
“The horse is still a star in our eyes.
“He’s one of those you drop on by mistake and spend the rest of your life looking for another one half as good.
“He wasn’t the easiest to train and it took us a while to get to know him.
“We learnt how he liked to come through horses and use that turn of foot in the last furlong – that’s how he won the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“When we went there we thought if we finish in the first half we’ll be lucky and then for him to go and win it and win it quite easily was something marvellous.
“He’s been a marvellous servant for everyone involved with him.
“If the horse didn’t like racing and wanted to be retired two years ago, we’d have done it.
“We tried to retire him and he didn’t want to know. He was so miserable.”
