In the CAA Stellar Lily Agnes EBF Conditions Stakes, Seraphim Angel emerged victorious, and Tom Dascombe made a glorious comeback to Chester.
After spending 12 years at Michael Owen's Manor House Stables in Cheshire, the Roodee was Dascombe's local track for more than ten years. The trainer called the couple's December 2021 breakup a "complete shock."
Dascombe, who won his second Lily Agnes after going to the gold with Quatuor in 2013, was delighted to be back in the Chester winner's enclosure after moving to Lambourn with fewer runners.
Seraphim Angel was an 11-2 favourite to expand on her debut performance at Newmarket three weeks back, and she delivered a strong performance, demonstrating a deft shift in gear under Pierre-Louis Jamin to pass the leads and win by a length and a half from 18-5 favourite Flicka's Girl.
“She went to Newmarket, we’re not hard on them at home and she didn’t know what to do when she came off the bridle. She clearly had learnt a lot today,” said Dascombe. We’ll see how she is, but she’s got loads of speed, so I would suggest she’ll go to York for the Listed Marygate Stakes (next week). She’s won a £20,000 bonus today and the prize-money is always brilliant at Chester, so she’s more than paid for herself already. I love her.”
Dascombe added that he thinks Seraphim Angel's victory marks the beginning of a return to happier days.: “It was difficult moving back to Lambourn with so few horses and then last year we put all our yearlings in a pre-training yard that got strangles, with a lot of the horses we couldn’t give them a winter prep. This is the first time in two years that we’ve had a clear run at actually getting them ready and I think we’ve had four runners and that’s my second winner. I’m delighted, I love two-year-olds and it’s great to have a winner at Chester in this race. I love this race, I love the people here, who are all so welcoming and friendly.”