Miss Yechance a first Group winner for Jack Nicholls Jack Nicholls continued his fine association with Miss Yechance at Newbury as the jockey landed the biggest race of his career to date in the Dubai International Airport World Trophy Stakes. The 20-year-old had guided the speedy three-year-old to handicap success at York’s Ebor meeting and was entrusted with steering Karl Burke’s filly once again, making all for a neck success at 12-1 over Clive Cox’s Shagraan, whose stablemate Diligent Harry grabbed third from 9-4 favourite Starlust. It is perhaps fitting the first major triumph of Nicholls’ fledgling career has come aboard a sprinter given the exploits of both his father Adrian and late grandfather Dandy over the shorter distances, with the Group Three victory another notable moment in what is becoming a fine season for the apprentice. Nicholls said: “I rang my dad on the way down and said I think I can be in the first four and if I can do that I would be over the moon and he just said, ‘keep a level head kid, don’t do anything you normally wouldn’t’. I did that and it worked out, so I’m over the moon. “He was some man for sprinters to be fair to him so hopefully I can follow in his footsteps.” He went on: “It’s been the season of dreams really and I’ve ticked off everything I wanted. “I said after I won the heritage handicap on her at York I’d love to win a Group race on her and for my first ride in one to be a winner is pretty special. “I loved that and there is no bigger buzz and especially for the boss, who has been superb to me since the start of my claim. For him to trust me in a Group race is really special. The owners also put a lot of trust into me being a 3lb claimer, so this is great.” Having debuted for Burke in the Palace of Holyroodhouse at Royal Ascot, Miss Yechance has improved with each and every outing for the Spigot Lodge operation. She now appears booked for a return to Dubai where she acquitted herself well last winter before swapping the Middle East for North Yorkshire. Burke said: “She’s fast and she was actually faster than the Nunthorpe winner at York. She’s obviously very quick and Jack gets a great tune out of her as well. It was his first ride in a Group race so it’s great for him. “She’s done nothing but improve physically since she arrived in May. She arrived early with the remit to run at Ascot but she looked very ropey when she arrived and was suffering with a few ulcers. “I didn’t want to run her at Ascot and she didn’t look very well as we hadn’t done much work with her, but she ran a blinder and only got tired in the last 100 yards. She was splitting the American horses (Bacio and Sandal’s Song) for a lot of the race. “I knew then she was a filly who doesn’t need much work and she’s as hard as nails, just eats and drinks. “I’m delighted with that and she’s climbing the ladder nicely. The owners are very keen to head back out to Dubai for the winter and I imagine that plan won’t change although she will make a nice broodmare at some time. “She wouldn’t want soft ground, but we’ll see if there’s anything available before Dubai. There’s a Listed race at Ascot (Rous Stakes, October 3) in a few weeks that could be a possibility.”
