Spycatcher cracks Cammidge code

Spycatcher got his season off to a flying start when taking an eventful William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Cammidge Trophy Stakes at Doncaster.

The seasoned seven-year-old was one of two runners in the race for Karl Burke, who also had Marshman in the Listed six-furlong event.

Spycatcher was the lesser fancied of the two at 4-1, but James Doyle always rode him with confidence.

However, the complexion of the race changed with a furlong to run, when Charlie Hills’ Iberian, winner of the Champagne Stakes at the track as a two-year-old, began a powerful challenge.

Upon hitting the front, though, he veered markedly to his left, knocking into Clive Cox’s James’s Delight who in turn gave Spycatcher a bump.

This seemed to spur Spycatcher on and while Iberian rallied close to home, he went down by a neck.

Burke said: “Watching it live I thought Iberian knocked straight into us, but it was Clive’s horse he knocked first, who then went into us.

“I was honestly thinking of taking him out when I got here because I didn’t think the ground would be soft enough as the ground walks quicker than it rides.

“The lads who rode in the first said it was perfectly safe ground, though, and it wouldn’t do him any harm to run.

“I said to James he’s a scratchy old mover and to ride him to finish, if he’s happy then great, but if it’s not going to happen then we know why.

“Poor old Clifford (Lee, rider of Marshman), he always seems to pick the wrong one when Spycatcher runs!

“I think we’ll have to enter him for the Group Two at York, but he’ll only run if it’s soft enough.”