Tullius downs Trade Commissioner
Thursday 16 August 2012
Sovereign Stakes result and replay:
1 Tullius (J Fortune) 11-4
2 Sovereign Debt (Hayley Turner) 3-1
3 Highland Knight (D Probert) 10-1
By Ashley Wishaw
Tullius provided Andrew Balding with a thrilling result in the totepool.com Sovereign Stakes at Salisbury today.
The improving Trade Commissioner was sent off the 15-8 favourite but punters knew their fate at the halfway stage.
Tullius then came through under Jimmy Fortune to hold off Sovereign Debt, ridden by Hayley Turner, in the Group Three feature. Highland Knight, also trained by Balding, was third.
“We have been quite excited since he arrived, to be honest,” Balding, who received the four year-old from Peter Winkworth this season, told Racing UK.
“He is improving and is a very good work horse. He has done it well today. “He looked very awkward in the finish but Jimmy just felt he was always doing enough.”
It was the third time in the past ten years that Balding had won the race, having saddled Passing Glance to victory in 2003 and Side Glance, his son, last season.
Balding took both of those horses abroad, with Side Glance good enough to finish fourth in the Woodbine Mile to subsequent Breeders’ Cup Mile runner-up Turallure, and Tullius could also take in an international campaign.
“He could be a horse for Hong Kong at the end of the year, he could go to Canada and he may even go to the Celebration Mile but if that comes to soon we have plenty of options,” Balding added.
Tullius has made rapid strides this season on rain-softened going and the soft ground at Salisbury was clearly to the liking of the son of La Vie Dei Colori.
“Peter Winkworth feels that he can go on fast ground but he is adept at softer conditions. We would race him sparingly on fast ground.”
Trade Commissioner was held up early on and made progress approaching the half-mile pole but the writing was on the wall soon after that as William Buick started to send out distress signals.
Tullius, meanwhile, was given a confident ride by Fortune and quickened nicely to take issue at the furlong marker off what had looked a stop-start gallop throughout.
Sovereign Debt followed him through, but Tullius, an 11-4 chance, was always just holding the upper hand and came out on top by half a length.
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