Volkan Star
Volkan Star put up a nice performance to win the Listed Fairway Stakes. Always travelling well and up with the pace, two or three horse-widths off the stands rail, Charlie Appleby's horse moved into a clear lead on the run to the four-furlong marker, and he wasn't headed thereafter. Thunderous challenged him on the far side from three furlongs out, and the pair of them pulled nicely clear of their field, but Volkan Star stayed on better and won well, posting a good time, just 0.05secs/furlong slower than Racing Post par, and almost three seconds faster than the time that his stable companion Al Maysan clocked in winning the Class 2 three-year-olds' handicap over the same course and distance 35 minutes later, albeit carrying 7lb more.
This was a career-best from the Sea The Stars gelding. Winner of a novice stakes over a mile at Goodwood last year as a juvenile, he shaped well on his debut this season, his first run since being gelded, in finishing second behind Mishriff in the Listed Newmarket Stakes, over Saturday's course and distance, when he had Waldkonig back in third. An expensive foal and an even more expensive yearling, there is plenty of stamina in Volkan Star's pedigree and, while he is obviously effective over 10 furlongs, there is every chance that he will improve for a step up in trip. He was in the Derby until final declaration stage, and he could be a horse for the Bahrain Trophy now, or the Gordon Stakes or the Great Voltigeur, or some combination thereof.
Newmarket, 27th June 2020
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