Richard Fahey has Ventura Rebel primed for Weatherbys Super Sprint

Richard Fahey believes that the £250,000 Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury on Saturday is the ideal race for Ventura Rebel, who heads the stable’s five-strong entry for a race that it has won three times in the past six years.

Ventura Rebel, runner-up in the Norfolk Stakes last month, looks likely to be winning Group races before long but the lure of running for a big pot on favourable terms is proving hard to resist and in the short term Fahey much prefers the Super Sprint to the Group Two Prix Robert Papin at Maisons Laffitte 24 hours later.

He has already sidestepped a tempting opportunity at Newmarket’s Moet & Chandon Newmarket July Festival to wait for it.

Fahey said: “I’d say Ventura Rebel will run in the Super Sprint because it’s an ideal race for him. We gave him a bit of a chance after Royal Ascot, and we didn’t contemplate Newmarket as he’d had three runs already.

“He’s in great form and I couldn’t be any happier with him. He’s improving all of the time and on paper he’s the one to beat. Anything that beats him will deserve to win.”

Fahey likes to go to the Weatherbys Super Sprint well-armed and he also intends running Queen Mary Stakes sixth Mighty Spirit, who has been second three times, as well as the Brocklesby winner Show Me Show Me and the lightly-weighted Baileys In Bloom.

He first won the Super Sprint with Peniaphobia in 2013, and has since scored with Lathom, who led a one-two-four for the stable in 2015, and with Bengali Boys two years ago. Peniaphobia was subsequently sold to Hong Kong, where he won the Longines Hong Kong Sprint and ended his career with earnings well in excess of £3.3million.

The attraction is obvious, and Fahey said: “It’s a big pot for the market we are dealing in and so it’s a race we like to target. We tend to deal in the lower end of the market and a lot of our horses don’t cost a lot, so it’s a good race for us. We’ve had some good results there, and it’s a good day out for the owners.”

Fahey may have been the dominant force in recent Super Sprints, but he has a long way to go before he matches the record of the Hannon stable, which has won the race with some top-class juveniles, including Group-race fillies Lyric Fantasy (1992), Risky (1993) and Tiggy Wiggy (2014).

He was successful in the race for a remarkable ninth occasion 12 months ago with Ginger Nut, who is now winning in the States.

There might not be a Tiggy Wiggy among Hannon’s eight possibles for Saturday’s race, but the stable has a couple of lightly-weighted fillies with each-way possibilities at least.

Hannon said: “I’d say Ventura Rebel looks a certainty for Richard Fahey, but Separate [second to a potentially smart newcomer at Windsor last time] would have a chance, and Ocasio Cortez is pretty quick. They would probably be my best chances.”

Rod Millman is hoping to bridge a 22-year gap when he looks to run Bettys Hope and Daddies Diva.

Lord Kintyre gave the Devon trainer his first big winner when lifting this prize in 1997 and is still going strong at the age of 24.

“We’ve still got him on the place,” said Millman.n“The Super Sprint is a happy race for me. When I won it in 1997 I was struggling. We only had an handful of horses and it kick-started my career.

“If it wasn’t for that race, I think I’d have struggled to stay in racing. We’ve had a second in it and thirds as well. I’ve always tried to have something in it.

“This is the best chance I’ve had for a number of years, so let’s hope we can pick up some good prize money.”

Millman believes both fillies deserve to take their chance.

“We took Bettys Girl to Chelmsford for her prep run and she won that. The second (Oh Purple Reign) went on and won at York on Saturday,” he said.

“I just hope Daddies Diva gets in. She’s got a good chance at the weights. I’ve got Raul Da Silva booked for her. She’s only got 8st and he does the weight.”