Pirate plunders Nunthorpe prize

Sprint king David Nicholls landed the Victor Chandler Nunthorpe Stakes with 16-1 shot Bahamian Pirate at York today.

The nine-year-old belied his years as he came through fast and late on the outside under Seb Sanders to claim the Group One prize.

The Tatling also finished with a flourish to grab second while One Cool Cat, sent off the 3-1 favourite, burst through from the rear to snatch third.

Airwave and Nicholls’ other runner Fire Up The Band were in the front rank early on as both Bahamian Pirate and One Cool Cat were dropped in towards the back of the pack.

Sanders sat quietly on the winner, biding his time before launching a challenge around a furlong out.

Avonbridge briefly hit the front from Airwave, but Ryan Moore was just getting 13-2 shot The Tatling into top gear on the near side.

Bahamian Pirate stuck to his task well, though, and battled all the way to the line for a neck win.

Spencer was forced to weave his way through the field on One Cool Cat and he was never going better than at the finish, crossing the line a length behind The Tatling.

Bahamian Pirate was giving Nicholls his second win in the race after Ya Malak dead-heated with Coastal Bluff in 1997.

Sanders told Channel 4 Racing: “He gave me a great ride. A furlong out I thought, as long as he goes through with it, he’ll win. Brilliant, I can’t say how happy I am.”

Nicholls felt the soft ground had been a major factor in Bahamian Pirate’s win.

The Thirsk trainer said: “The ground is the most important thing for him. He can compete on soft ground like this.

“He might be nine, but he doesn’t look it and he is racing full of confidence at present.”

Milton Bradley, trainer of The Tatling, believes his horse would have been better on quicker ground.

He said: “Basically he really doesn’t like ground this soft. We have got to be pleased with him coming second in a Group One.

“There are a lot of options open to us, but we will have to see if it keeps on raining.”

Spencer was delighted with the run of One Cool Cat and believes he will be better for the return to six furlongs in the Stanleybet Sprint Cup at Haydock next month.

“I think he would have annihilated them on faster ground. This is the first time he has run over five furlongs since April last year and that’s a big difference,” he said.

“He was the fastest horse at the end and I’m really looking forward to Haydock.”

One Cool Cat’s trainer Aidan O’Brien also felt the return to the minimum trip had troubled the son of Storm Cat.

“We knew he was a fast ground horse and it was a bit of a shock to him coming back to five furlongs on this ground,” he said.

“This horse is full of class. I don’t think the trip beat him, it was just the shock of coming back to five.

“He has Haydock and the Abbaye now and we would have to be delighted with how he ran today. He could not have done any more without winning. I was thrilled.”

Bookmakers Coral and William Hill reacted to the result by making One Cool Cat the 7-2 favourite for the Stanleybet Sprint Cup, with Bahamian Pirate at 16-1.