Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of Weatherbys’ sponsorship of the Super Sprint, with Royal Ascot’s Queen Mary Stakes second Relief Rally heading 23 confirmations for the £250,000 feature event.
She will be bidding to give William Haggas a third win in the race, following success with Superstar Leo in 2000 and Jargelle eight years later. Just like Superstar Leo, who remains one of only three winners in so far to dip under a minute for the Super Sprint and still holds the race record of 59.19 seconds, Relief Rally began her racecourse career early by the stable’s usual standards, winning on her debut at Windsor in April.
She gave clear notice there that she was a cut above the average and she earned her ticket to Royal Ascot by overcoming a penalty in a conditions race at Salisbury next time, upsetting favourite Juniper Berries, who is among her possible opponents again. She then went desperately close to completing the hat-trick in the Queen Mary, where she was putting in good late work at the finish and was only beaten on the nod by the speedy American filly Crimson Advocate.
As a 58,000 guineas yearling, carrying a small penalty, Relief Rally will have significantly more weight than Superstar Leo, who was bred in partnership by Haggas’ father-in-law Lester Piggott and Tony Hirschfeld and was bought back for a mere 3,400 guineas by his wife Maureen at the sales, but she is nevertheless the stand-out on form. If all goes well here she is likely to be aimed at York’s Lowther Stakes and could finish off in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp, in which her predecessor was second.
Haggas said: “Relief Rally got the entry for the Super Sprint because she was bred to be quick and cost less than the ceiling £65,000, so it’s been on our radar for a while. She got a small penalty for her Salisbury win, but it would have been a much bigger one if she had won the Queen Mary, although we would have been happy to have taken one there.
“The American filly was obviously very quick in the Queen Mary, but we were unfortunate not to win, as she was in front a stride before the line and in front again a stride after it, but not on the line.”
He added: “Unlike Superstar Leo, who had no weight despite having won the Norfolk Stakes, Relief Rally has nine stone, but if she’s good enough to win on Saturday I think she’ll go for the Lowther, then the Flying Childers, which Superstar Leo also won, and then the Abbaye, where Superstar Leo was second to Namid.
“Whether she’ll train on nobody knows, but she’s very like another Kodiac filly we had called Besharah, who won the Lowther Stakes at two and then showed some good form without winning again at three.”
Superstar Leo ended the year the highest rated juvenile filly on the classifications, and she has gone on to have major lasting significance for the stable.
Haggas said: “She’s been marvellous. She introduced us to the Jacksons, of Lael Stables, who have been big supporters ever since, and she bred Enticing (winner of the Molecomb and King George Stakes), who was the dam of One Master (three-time winner of the Prix de la Foret). Her sister Starship is the dam of Rivet, who won the Racing Post Trophy for us.
“It’s been a hell of a family for us and a wonderful story, and the Jacksons were so fond of Superstar Leo that when she retired they flew her back to Kentucky so that she could spend the rest of her life in their front paddock.”
Juniper Berries’ trainer Eve Johnson Houghton, who had beaten favourite Chipotle here two years ago, has another possible danger in Bobsleigh, who won his first two races before finishing sixth in the Coventry Stakes, while the Richard Hannon stable, which has won the Super Sprint no fewer than 11 times, still has seven possibles among Monday’s confirmations, among them Goodwood winner La Guarida.
Rod Millman, who won with Lord Kintyre (1997) and Bettys Hope (2019) always targets the Super Sprint and has Goodwood winner Beenham and Chepstow winner Crooked Crown. Last year's winning trainer Archie Watson has Saturday's Hamilton winner Heed The Call.
Irish runners are rare and none has won yet, but Kieran Cotter has confirmed dual Tipperary winner Son Of Corballis, and Jessica Harrington has another Tipperary winner in Supersonic Man.