Homebred Riviera Nights back to winning ways at Ascot
6 September 2019
It was brilliant to see Riviera Nights bounce back to winning ways at Ascot on Friday.
Under a patient ride from William Buick, our homebred Kingman colt defied top weight to take the 7f three-year-old handicap in the style of a good horse for Richard Hannon.
Buick was content to hold Riviera Nights up at the rear of the field as Eye Of The Water set the pace up front, and shaken up over 2f out, the colt showed a bright turn of foot to sweep through and win in game fashion from Archaeology.
“Riviera Nights is quite a talented horse,” Richard Hannon told reporters. “He’ll improve for that. It was good to get him back and see him win well.”
Riviera Nights looked a smart prospect last year when landing his last two juvenile starts at Brighton and Ripon, the latter by close to three lengths. He has acquitted himself well in defeat on several occasions this season and now, following a break, looks well on the way to justifying last year’s promise.
Riviera Nights is the third foal out of Turama and therefore a half-brother to the winning Zefferino, himself also successful in recent weeks.
Turama, by top broodmare sire Pivotal, was purchased by Tony Nerses for 240,000gns as a yearling and is a half-sister to the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes winner Spinning Queen, dam of Listed winners Trade Commissioner and Gallipot, and Listed winner Natavia.
This family goes back to Lady Blackfoot, the dam of Grade 1 Hollywood Derby hero Labeeb.
His win came on the same day that fellow homebred Breath Of Joy ran a brilliant race to be a nose second in a hot maiden at Kempton. The daughter of Kodiac is out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Island Dreams.
