Alston Hoping For Reverence Double

Eric Alston is hoping Reverence can provide him with a second Group One success at Haydock on Saturday week after his majestic performance in the VC Bet Nunthorpe Stakes at York.

The Betfred Sprint Cup at the Merseyside track is next on the agenda for Reverence, who will then be sent to France for the Prix de l'Abbaye on the first weekend of October.

Having been 20-1 with the sponsors ante-post, Reverence was sent off at 5-1 and made all under Kevin Darley in the testing ground to beat Amadeus Wolf by two lengths.

Pivotal Flame was a head back in third although the 4-1 favourite Dandy Man pulled hard in the early stages and dropped away late on to finish 12th.

Alston said: 'Stack Rock was second in the Prix de l'Abbaye in 1993 but this is my first Group One success.

'If he stays in one piece hopefully he can go one better there this year. That is part of the plan ? we will go to Haydock a week on Saturday for the Sprint Cup and then the Abbaye.

'The distance doesn't really matter but the ground does. Kevin has always said he is a different horse on this ground. He says you can even notice the difference cantering to the start.

'I hoped it would rain. You need a bit of luck in this game and I got mine last night.'

Darley added: 'If there's one thing I've learned from riding in the last 30 years, it's that you can get away with a furlong either way but you can't get away with substituting the ground and this fellow proved that as he loves soft ground.

'I said earlier in the year the Prix de l'Abbaye would be the target for him and all being well he'd have a great chance.'

Amadeus Wolf was another to have been handy throughout and ran a solid race dropped back to the minimum distance.

Kevin Ryan said of his runner-up: 'I'm absolutely delighted for Eric and our horse has run very well.

'He's a three-year-old who is getting better and better as the year goes on.

'We'll take him home and see how he is before we decide what to do but he's in at Haydock and also in the Abbaye.'

Ed McMahon said of Pivotal Flame: 'He's very consistent and he's been running since March. The key to these sprinters is keeping them sweet. He'll go for the Prix de l'Abbaye next.'

Dandy Man had been weak in the market following the softening of the ground and Tracey Collins, daughter of trainer Con, acknowledged the surface had played a part in his demise.

She said: 'He knuckled coming out of the stalls and then ran far too free.

'He was pulling hard early on and they weren't going fast enough for him. On that ground they went a bit slower and he couldn't get a good tow.'

(C) PA Sport