Tabletalk delights Clover with Melrose strike

Tabletalk finished with a flourish to claim top honours in the Sky Bet Melrose Handicap at York.

Although down the field as a 100-1 shot for the Derby in early June, Tom Clover’s Chelmsford maiden winner proved he remains a colt of some promise when third on his handicap debut at Ascot last month.

He faced a step up in trip and class on the Knavesmire, but proved more than up to the task under a well-timed ride from Rossa Ryan.

Never too far off the pace, the 12-1 chance saw out the one-mile-six-furlong trip well to score by a length and a quarter from Aidan O’Brien’s The Equator.

Clover said: “That was extremely pleasing. He looked the winner the whole way round. He’d been shaping up nicely at home and he seems to be improving.

“I was thrilled to see him handle the ground so well, as that was a slight question mark for me, and he stayed on strong over the trip.

“He’s a very exciting prospect. It’s great for the whole team at home who’ve worked very hard. He ran in the Derby and that was a really tough experience so we gave him a bit of time, he’s a big horse and I think he’ll make up into a lovely four-year-old.

“He has a very patient owner who let me train him where we wanted to go. He ran a very good race at Ascot last time and he’s come to himself nicely.”