Horse Racing

Shadow Of Light overturns Whistlejacket to win Group 1 Middle Park Stakes

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Joe Lyons
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Joe Lyons Sports Editor

Joe Lyons is a sports writer with years of experience on reputable sports and gambling websites. Joe has also been published by Nottingham Forest, working with the academy and senior teams to produce content on matchdays. He formerly covered the Premier League and EFL as an on-site reporter during the 2020/21 season for Prost International. He is an expert in a range of sports including soccer, basketball, horse racing and American football. Joe specialises in long form content alongside news, tips and betting. Joe has a keen eye for the sports betting industry in the USA which covers the NBA and NFL, tracking and analysing the market as it changes throughout the season.

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Published28 Sep 2024

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Shadow Of Light won going away to overturn odds-on favourite Whistlejacket in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.

William Buick’s mount travelled into the race in style to draw alongside the market leader and quickened impressively to take the spoils by four lengths.

The Lope De Vega colt was sent off the 11-4 second-favourite behind 4-5 Whistlejacket and showed an electric change of gear in the final stages.

Charlie Appleby’s two-year-old landed his first success in Group company after falling ¾ of a length short to Cool Hoof Luke in the Gimcrack Stakes at York last month.

Shadow Of Light was withdrawn on heavy ground in the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury last weekend but today’s slower surface at HQ didn’t appear to cause any issue.

Godolphin have a new Classic prospect on their hands heading into next season and as per the best horse racing betting sites, Shadow Of Light shortened from 33-1 to 16 for the 2000 Guineas next May.

Following the impressive performance, Buick sounded bullish about the horse’s chances for success in 2025:

“He really was (impressive). He’s really improved since the Gimcrack and I was really sure that he didn’t get the rub of the green that day at York.

“He’s really grown up mentally and he’s done nothing but improve. He’s a lovely stamp of a horse and I was really impressed by what he did there.

“He’s a quick horse. I don’t know whether he’s done enough for this year or not, it’s a lovely way to finish off the year going into the winter and there’s plenty to look forward to next year.”

“You’re never quite sure on this ground, it was the first time he’s ever ran on ground as soft as this but he was electric, he’s done today what he did for the last week at home.”