See The Fire blazes clear to rout Middleton rivals
Andrew Balding's chestnut was the 8-11 favourite under Oisin Murphy and was ridden patiently in the Group Two from stall four.
In the home straight, they began to pick through horses and the four-year-old was quickly able to take up a lead that then got wider and wider, eventually reaching 12 lengths on the line, with Godolphin's Beautiful Love the runner-up.
BOLTED UP. ⚡️
See The Fire blazed a trail up the Knavesmire to win the Oakmere Homes Hambleton Handicap 🥇#ITVRacing | @yorkracecourse | @oismurphy | @AndrewBalding2 pic.twitter.com/wanieGCp1b
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 15, 2025
Balding said: 'That was smashing, we've always had a very high opinion of her and she's improved since last year.
'We probably made a bit of a mess of her last year as we didn't step up in trip until it was too late. For some reason, she wasn't at her best in the Eclipse (when fourth behind City Of Troy), but she really found her feet after that, winning the Strensall here and she had a very good run on Champions Day (fifth in Champion Stakes) having had a busy season.
'We were a little disappointed on her comeback run at Sandown, but she probably needed the run – she travelled well through the race and didn't quite get home, but that's put her spot-on for today.'
It is 10 years since See The Fire's dam, Arabian Queen, ran out a shock 50-1 winner of the Juddmonte International at York, beating that season's Dante, Derby and Eclipse hero Golden Horn.
See The Fire was in a class of her own in the Middleton Stakes (Mike Egerton/PA)
See The Fire could well return to the Knavesmire later in the summer in a bid to emulate her mother, and sire Sea The Stars, with a Group One victory at Goodwood beforehand also a major target.
'She's a very exciting horse and we always fancied the Nassau for her this year. She was second in it last year and if that goes well, we might consider coming back here in August for the Juddmonte International,' Balding added.
Charlie Appleby was pleased with the performance of runner-up Beautiful Love, saying: 'The winner is different class to the rest of us and as William (Buick) said, they got racing far enough out and the rest of us sort of paid for it a little bit.
'Our filly wants stepping up to a mile and a half, it's just finding the right race as she still carries a penalty from last year. It's a nice bit of black type but she deserves to win a race like this, so we'll just have to make sure we avoid the winner in the future.'
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