Stellar day for Burke highlighted by Haydock brace

Karl Burke may have been watching on from the Curragh but could not help but be delighted as two of his star performers dazzled in a thrilling across-the-cards four-timer that shows Spigot Lodge will once again be a force to be reckoned with at Royal Ascot.

While Burke travelled to Ireland to saddle Alparslan in the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas, stable jockey Clifford Lee’s decision to stay on home soil and head to Haydock was richly rewarded as first Venetian Sun and then Night Raider gave the jockey a big-race double on Merseyside.

It is an afternoon which continues the fine start to the 2026 season for Burke’s trusted lieutenant after his serious injury following a quad bike accident that left him in intensive care and his boss was full of praise for his decision making both in and out of the saddle.

Burke told the Press Association: “I’ve only watched Venetian Sun win the Sandy Lane on my phone and haven’t had the pleasure of a full replay but it looked impressive to me and she was given a super ride by Cliff who was really confident on her – things are really clicking for Cliff now.

“It was a tough decision for Cliff and I left it to him, but I think the key factor was James Doyle was banned and he had the opportunity of riding Night Raider.

“That might have swung it for him, but it was a tough one to get off Alparslan as he is a good horse as well.”

It should perhaps come as no surprise that Lee stayed loyal to the filly who provided him with his first Group One success in the Prix Morny last summer and one who will now head back to Royal Ascot as a leading contender to add the Commonwealth Cup to the Albany Stakes she secured 12 months ago.

Burke added: “Venetian Sun is a beautiful animal with a fantastic mind. She’s so laid back and so push button.

“As you saw today, she relaxes, she’s got a high cruising speed and she quickens like a top-class horse.”

Venetian Sun’s triumph was quickly followed up by Night Raider on the hastily amended Haydock card that saw the action curtailed for well over an hour as racing was redirected to the inner track following an incident when a hole was discovered after the first race.

Night Raider will also now head to the Royal meeting with leading claims with his team having learned he possesses a new trick having come from behind on this occasion to thwart the 2025 winner of his intended Ascot target, Jim Goldie’s American Affair.

“I spent nine tenths of the race cursing our luck with Night Raider as his game is really jumping and running and I’m not 100 per cent sure what happened in the stalls with him missing the break,” said Burke on Night Raider’s Temple Stakes success.

“But once again Cliff was pretty cool on him and gave him every chance of finishing and it’s great to see. We know we’ve another string to our bow now and can ride him differently if we have to.”

While Burke was hesitant to commit York two-year-old winner Possessive to an outing at the summer showpiece, down at Goodwood, the quickly developing Golden Story stamped his ticket to the King Edward VII Stakes as the fourth winning piece of a fine afternoon for the Middleham handler.

Building on his Chester outing behind the highly-touted Constitution River, he downed useful opposition to land the Listed British Stallion Studs EBF Cocked Hat Stakes and gives the Spigot Lodge team even more to look forward to at the season’s marquee event in a month’s time.

Burke explained: “He’s a lovely horse but very much a work in progress and we made a decision with his owner Sheikh Rashid at the beginning of this week to run him here as he needs the experience and he would learn so much.

“Obviously if we were thinking of the Derby – and he was entered in the Derby – that brings it really close and it would have been three quick runs for a raw horse which would not be ideal.

“We made the decision to go to Goodwood and then on to Royal Ascot which will give him that bit of extra time and he’s a horse who stays really well.”