Skip to content

Anna Nerium swoops in Free Handicap

Tom Marquand riding Anna Nerium win the bet365 European Free Handicap Stakes at Newmarket
Image: Tom Marquand riding Anna Nerium win the bet365 European Free Handicap Stakes at Newmarket

Anna Nerium showed her male counterparts a clean pair of heels when running out a decisive winner of the bet365 European Free Handicap at Newmarket.

Richard Hannon's three-year-old won twice from five juvenile starts, including a Group Three success at Salisbury, but failed to get competitive in the Oh So Sharp Stakes here in October.

As the only filly in a 10-strong field, she was a 25-1 shot for her seasonal reappearance in this Listed contest, but there did not appear to be any fluke about her authoritative display.

Tom Marquand settled Anna Nerium in midfield for the first half of the seven-furlong contest and she showed a smart change of gear late on to pull three lengths clear of Finniston Farm.

Latest Racing Stories

Nebo and Snazzy Jazzy, the 9-2 joint-favourites, both finished well-beaten.

Hannon said: "She was very good the day she won the Group Three at Salisbury. There was no fluke about it, but she struggled to reproduce that. "She's been working well. She hasn't grown a load, but we didn't expect her to. "I thought she was very impressive today. I think she'll get a mile." He added: "We'll sleep on it, but I imagine we'll go for the 1000 Guineas. I thought it was going to be expensive to put her in all the Guineas, but the owner (Jeanette McCreery) wanted to enjoy the filly so that's what she's done. "Jeanette wanted her in the English and she's put her in the French. "I thought if she reproduced her Salisbury form she'd have a chance. I didn't expect her to win like that. "It was a fairly smart race. It's not always the strongest Guineas trial, but I thought that was not a weak one."

Around Sky