The Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes over the flying five furlongs at Beverley Racecourse is East Yorkshire’s best-known race.
Open to Flat sprinters aged three and above, and held annually at the end of August, it is the biggest day of the year for horse racing in the area. Take a stroll down memory lane with us as we remember two famous racehorses that won the Beverley Bullet.
Borderlescott (2012)
The last time Borderlescott won a race in his lengthy career, it came in this. Trained by Robin and then later Rebecca Bastiman at the family’s Cowthorpe stables 45 miles away from Beverley in West Yorkshire near Wetherby, this gelding first announced himself as sprinter by landing the 2006 Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood.
Borderlescott later won back-to-back renewals of the Nunthorpe Stakes – one of the few sprint races in the British Isles to hold Group 1 status – in 2008 and 2009. In the first year, he won it, the race was held at Newmarket while regular home York was closed for renovation.
In 2010, Borderlescott made a successful return to Glorious Goodwood down in Sussex and captured the Group 2 King George Stakes. He raced in France, Ireland and even Hong Kong during a career spanning 85 races and 11 years.
Victory in the Beverley Bullet was his 14th and came aged 10 when he stayed on strongly to land odds of 8/1. It is always worth checking horse racing results from today as they can influence betting markets for future events and Borderlescott proved older horses can still win valuable Flat races.
Alpha Delphini (2016)
Winning the Beverley Bullet helped to launch the career of Bryan Smart’s stable star Alpha Delphini. Trained just 50 miles up the road in the Hambleton Hills of North Yorkshire, this gelding made swift progress in the summer of 2016.
Alpha Delphini only raced once as a three-year-old but broke his maiden tag aged four over course and distance 12 months before his Beverley Bullet success. Handicap wins at Thirsk, York and Ascot on King George weekend off marks of 79, 83 and 88 set him up for the first crack at some black type.
Smart reached for first-time cheekpieces and they had the desired effect. Alpha Delphini did not disappoint, landing the Beverley Bullet by a cosy neck off 96. He was raised a further 10lb by the handicapper but still showed spirit despite going another 13 months without winning again.
Alpha Delphini placed in the World Trophy at Newbury when just denied by a short-head, the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park and Palace House Stakes at Newmarket. These were all Group contests.
Four narrow defeats in the 2018 season saw him sent off an unfancied 40/1 with bookmakers for the Nunthorpe during the Ebor Festival at York. Alpha Delphini belied those massive odds, however, to give the racing syndicate who owned him another day in the sun just hanging on to defeat old rival Mabs Cross and claim Group 1 glory.
