Dr Richard Newland & Jamie Insole registered their first major victory on the Flat as Witness Stand sprung a 25/1 surprise in a dramatic G2 HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes.
There was drama even before the gates opened when two-time Lennox Stakes winner Kinross was withdrawn after being kicked by Audience, while soon after the start, Royal Ascot winner Noble Champion was pulled up by Kieran Shoemark.
The seven-furlong contest was run at a searching gallop, with three horses going clear from an early stage. One of those was Witness Stand, who travelled up strongly over two furlongs out and never looked in any danger afterwards under Hollie Doyle.
Lake Forest (11/1) fared best of those from off the pace as he went down by almost three lengths in second, while last year’s winner Audience (3/1JF) was third having been unable to go with the winner in the straight.
It is a breakout success for Newland & Insole, who started training in partnership in 2023. Insole was formerly assistant trainer to Charlie Hills.
Jamie Insole said: “I have been involved in a lot of big winners, and to actually train one myself is pretty special. My grandad was a jockey and a trainer, and my uncle Will Kennedy was a National Hunt jockey. So racing is in the blood and I did them all proud today.
“We bought Witness Stand for 100,000gns at the horses-in-training sales. He went under the radar and we immediately had offers of more money for him. I already had this race in mind and he ran a great race at Chester last time, when they broke the track record. The bit of ease in the ground helped him and he looked pretty good.
“I wouldn’t have run him if we didn’t think he had a good chance. The Chester run gave us confidence to come here. It is lucky that I put him in the Group One Prix de la Foret this morning. That is looking like a pretty good idea now. He is in the Hungerford Stakes but will have to carry a penalty in that now, so we will see.
“We have had an amazing season. That is 27 winners now. We have a really good team. Hopefully we can keep going and keep getting these big winners.”
Doyle said: “A great training performance by Jamie Insole and Dr Richard Newland, plus everyone back at home, to get this horse back on track, not winning in handicap company but in Group company.
“He has some really good form, is a Listed winner and, on ratings, he wasn't far behind Audience. He had quite a lot to prove but he stood up. It is a bit of a shock to the system but Jamie wasn't shocked.”
Lake Forest’s rider Tom Marquand said: “We were always going to be reliant upon the second wave getting up to the first wave, and they just lost touch with them, which made it tough work for us. You can only go as fast as you can go in mid-race, and this fellow wasn’t really travelling. I opted to go back inside to see if I could save a bit of ground but ultimately it made no difference. The winner had gone, he’d sailed, and it’s tough to bridge those gaps on a track like this.”
Robert Havlin, rider of last year’s winner Audience, said: “That was a step back in the right direction, and he probably wants quicker ground than today. I was trying to give myself a bit of space in the straight and Quinault kept coming with me, but he finished his race off and in the last furlong he was coming back again. I think the cheekpieces helped, as that was better than he had been doing this year.
Audience’s co-trainer John Gosden added: “That was a good run. He did everything great, but he just found the ground a little loose down the hill and then stayed on well on the flat. We’ll go to York now.”
Rossa Ryan said of withdrawn 3/1JF Kinross: “I was nowhere near Audience and he kept backing up. He backed up and let fly at me. I just want to say a big sorry to everyone involved. It was a bit of a freak thing, but he seems fine. It happened that fast, it took me by surprise. It’s one of those things."
Witness Stand after winning the HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes (credit: Goodwood Racecourse)
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