Maarek bursts clear in British Champions Sprint Stakes

The well-regarded Maarek seized command of the lead about 150 meters out and finished up strongly to win  the $387,500 British Champions Sprint Stakes (gr. III) on Saturday at Ascot in decisive fashion.

Ridden to victory by Jamie Spencer, Maarek flashed speed from the start and soon found himself racing along the outside rail with three other horses -- The Cheka, Imperial Guest, and Medicean Man -- while the remainder of the fifteen horse field was racing as a group in the center of the straight course.

Inside the final quarter of a mile, Maarek made his bold run to take command of the lead and was soon clear by a good margin. Hawkeyethenoo chased him home gamely to be clearly second best, but proved no match for Maarek, who coasted home in front by about 1 1/2 lengths.

Sirius Prospect and Imperial Guest rounded out the top four, while favored Society Rock ran evenly to finish fifth.

Maarek is a son of Pivotal out of Ruby Rocket, by Indian Rocket. He is trained by David Peter Nagle.

-Keelerman

QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes Entries and Post Positions

Qatar Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp (Fr-I) winner Wizz Kid and Betfred Sprint Cup (gr. I) winner Society Rock are among the fifteen horses that will head to post for the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (Eng-II) on Saturday at Ascot.

Jimmy Styles won the Prix de Meautry Lucien Barriere (Fr-III) last time out, and will have top jockey Frankie Dettori aboard. Renaissance Stakes (Ire-III) winner Maarek and O L B G Park Stakes (Eng-II) winner Libranno are also expected to contend.

QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (Eng-II)
Six furlongs on the Ascot turf course

PP	Horse	Jockey	Trainer
1	Van Ellis	Joe Fanning	Mark Johnston
2	Slade Power	Wayne Lordan	Edward Lynam
3	Restiadargent	Maxime Guyon	H-A Pantall
4	Libranno	Richard Hughes	Richard Hannon
5	Jimmy Styles	Frankie Dettori	Clive Cox
6	Sirius Prospect	Shane Kelly	Dean Ivory
7	Society Rock	Kieren Fallon	James Fanshawe
8	Wizz Kid	Olivier Peslier	Robert Collet
9	Hawkeyethenoo	Graham Lee	Jim Goldie
10	Elusivity	Eddie Ahern	Brian Meehan
11	Royal Rock	George Baker	Chris Wall
12	Maarek	Jamie Spencer	David Peter Nagle
13	Imperial Guest	Tom Queally	Geogre Margarson
14	Medicean Man	Pat Cosgrave	Jeremy Gask
15	The Cheka	Neil Callan	Eve Johnson Houghton

-Keelerman