Knight strikes again to make light work of the Horris Hill

Knight made it two wins in as many starts as he ran out a smart winner of the Virgin Bet Horris Hill Stakes at Newbury.

The son of Mehmas had made a successful start for Simon and Ed Crisford at Yarmouth last last month and he took a huge leap forward to claim this Group Three prize on his second attempt in testing conditions.

Sent off a 10-1 shot in the hands of David Egan, Knight was settled in behind as Grey’s Monument set out to make all in the seven-furlong contest, with Caragio hot on his heels in the early exchanges.

However, Knight could be noted travelling particularly well with a couple of furlongs to run and as Egan switched him between Greys Monument and Ancestral Land to make his challenge, the Crisford runner found a nice change of gear to shoot clear.

While Grey’s Monument was game in defeat, rallying to take second, he proved no match in being beaten a comfortable length and three-quarters with a length back to Ancestral Land in third.

Striking Star was sent off the 9-4 favourite but he failed to figure.

Betfair introduced Knight as a 25-1 shot for next year’s Qipco 2000 Guineas and Ed Crisford believes a spring Classic trial will now be the plan.

He said: “It was hard to guess what he achieved on his first start but he’d trained well after it.

“His sister (Malavath) gets through this ground with a high knee action and we were hopeful he would.

“He’s an exciting colt and probably a Guineas horse who will go for a trial – the Craven or the Greenham.

“The owners (KHK Racing Ltd) are having a great year, winning the Leger and the Mill Reef (with Eldar Eldarov and Sakheer respectively) and they have a few with us.”

Egan added: “He’d definitely improved a lot since the time I last rode him.

“The ground was deep but he grabbed it and really galloped out on it. I liked his action and the way he put the race to bed.”