English/Ire
Tropical Storm strikes in Westow Stakes
Andrew Balding enjoyed a second success on the Thursday of York’s Dante meeting when Tropical Storm stuck on bravely to get up late in the Listed Westow Stakes.
Having trained See The Storm to produce a blistering performance in the Middleton Stakes earlier on the card, Andrew Balding was once again in the winners' enclosure when Tropical Storm battled on under Oisin Murphy to deny the front-running Star Of Mehmas by a head in the final stages.
"He's built like a real sprinter," said Balding.
"Oisin said when he switched him out, he got caught by a bit of a headwind which caught him by surprise and as a result it just took him a bit of time to pick up.
"He's a smart horse, his form last year was very strong, and he had won here which was a help – he took a false step at Newmarket."
A trip to Royal Ascot now looks on the cards, although Balding is faced with the dilemma of sticking against his own age group for the six-furlong Commonwealth Cup or dropping back to the minimum distance for the King Charles III Stakes against the older horses.
He added: "Obviously we've now got two options at Royal Ascot, and we'll just have to see whether we chance him over six in the Commonwealth or run him over five against his elders.
"It's a nice problem to have. Ascot was always going to be his next target, and it will be one of those races."
Check out our FREE Interactive Speed Maps for meetings in nine countries each and every day.