Technician stakes St Leger claims with gutsy Geoffrey Freer victory

Technician advanced his claims for a shot at Classic glory in next month’s William Hill St Leger at Doncaster with victory in the Unibet Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury.

Finding the undulations of Goodwood against him last time out, the Martyn Meade-trained grey bounced back to form with a hard-fought success in the Group Three prize.

Showing an abundance of stamina, the son of Mastercraftsman appeared to appreciate every yard of the extended one-mile-five-furlong trip, gradually warming to the task before defeating favourite Morando by three-quarters of a length.

Meade’s son and assistant, Freddie, said of the 10-1 scorer: “He has been a funny horse. It’s very difficult, as you only have a short amount of time to work these horses out. He has only had six runs.

“A galloping track and a bit of juice in the ground has helped, and he just keeps on giving. Rob (Hornby) said he felt all the way up the straight he would get there.

“With all credit to him he has managed to win over a mile and a quarter and has run over a mile and a half and stepping up now I think these sort of trips will be his distance.

“We will have to talk to everybody, but that (Leger) has been on our radar for a while and I think the extra trip and the ground the way it could be at Doncaster might make it a logical step.

“He was never able to get into a real good rhythm (at Goodwood) where he could get into a good fight.

“Like he showed at Longchamp, he likes to get his head down and get stuck in and he never had that chance at Goodwood.”