Marvelman finds top gear in Park Stakes

Oisin Murphy continued his hot streak as he steered Marvelman to a comprehensive win in the Betfred Park Stakes at Doncaster.

The jockey notched up four winners on Town Moor on Friday and had already struck gold in the opening handicap on Leger day before adding another victory aboard Andrew Balding’s 13-2 shot.

Marvelman made smooth progress to grab the lead from pacesetter Quinault with two furlongs to run, before easing away to win by three and three-quarter lengths in the Group Two heat.

King’s Gamble took second with Audience third, but Group One-winning 5-4 favourite Shadow Of Light never looked like getting involved, pulling hard early before finding little when the pace stepped up.

Balding said: “He’s really found his spark of late and was impressive today.

“He’s generally very consistent and never disappoints, apart from when we really fancied him in the Jersey at Royal Ascot – his owners came over from Australia to watch him that day, too!

“The owners have been very patient and it’s paid off today.

“He’s run some good races on fast ground, but he’s handled that bit of cut very well today.”

On plans, he added: “We’ll probably head to the Challenge Stakes at Newmarket with a penalty”

Murphy, well on his way to being champion jockey once more, said: “His work has gone to a new level in recent weeks since Newbury and we thought he’d be fine on that ground.

“We got a good tow into it and he hit the line well.

“We went a nice even pace, not flat to the boards like Quinault sometimes can do, as this ground can be tiring and I realised early it might take a bit of getting, but he powered clear for pressure.”