Poptronic caused a minor upset in the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock this afternoon, pluckily fending off a late thrust from the favourite Sea Silk Road to triumph at odds of 12/1 for trainer Karl Burke and jockey Sam James.
Although showers had hit Haydock during the morning, there was not enough precipitation to allow soft ground specialist One For Bobby to take her chance. That left eight to face the starter on going officially described as good to firm, with recent Group 3 Lester Piggott Stakes winner Sea Silk Road narrowly favoured in the betting over last season's Group 2 Park Hill Stakes heroine Mimikyu.
The market leaders were happy to bide their time early on, as the Roger Varian-trained Peripatetic put pace into the race. Poptronic, who had finished third to Sea Silk Road on her previous outing, was content to sit in second, just on the shoulder of the leader, with last year's Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet heroine Aristia tracking in third.
There wasn't a great deal of change to the order as the field swung for home, at which point Danny Tudhope began to try and extricate Sea Silk Road from a pocket on the rail. Meanwhile, Poptronic moved up to challenge long-time leader Peripatetic at the three-furlong pole and was driven into a narrow lead a quarter of a mile from home.
Mimikyu and the Frankel filly Time Lock loomed large at this point but neither looked particularly at ease on the prevailing ground and, were unable to wrestle the advantage from Poptronic. By the furlong marker Sea Silk Road had been manoeuvred to the outside to deliver her challenge, and she moved upsides Poptronic with half a furlong to run.
A ding-dong tussle ensued and the Haggas filly may even have nosed ahead for a stride or two, but Poptronic rallied gamely to her inner and was edging ahead again at the line. She crossed the line a neck to Sea Silk Road, with Mimikyu a further two and a half lengths back in third.
A four-year-old daughter of Nathaniel, Poptronic won a Wolverhampton novice at two before highlighting her three-year-old year with a win in the Group 3 Hoppings Stakes at Newcastle. She has returned better than ever this time around, finishing third to Free Wind in the Group 2 Middleton Stakes at York before filling the same position behind familiar foe Sea Silk Road last month.
Trainer Karl Burke was celebrating his first win in the Lancashire Oaks and securing a sixth pattern win for his high-flying yard this season. For jockey Sam James, this was a first taste of success at Group 2 level, and he is now closing in on 50 winners for the year.
Following the win jockey Sam James commented:
"It's a big win for me. Karl has been very good to me the last couple of seasons and this filly has been very good to me. I won a Group Three at Newcastle on her and now I've won a Group Two and she deserves it as well.
"Karl has been very loyal to me over the last couple of seasons, he's loyal to Clifford (Lee) and he's loyal to anyone who comes and rides out. If you can ride a bit he'll give you a chance."
A four-year-old daughter of Nathaniel, Poptronic won a Wolverhampton novice at two before highlighting her three-year-old year with a win in the Group 3 Hoppings Stakes at Newcastle. She has returned better than ever this time around, finishing third to Free Wind in the Group 2 Middleton Stakes at York before filling the same position behind familiar foe Sea Silk Road last month.
Burke's daughter and assistant Kelly, who rides Poptronic every day at home, certainly feels that the best is yet to come. The filly had one of her rare off days in the 2022 Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks but is now likely to return to the Knavesmire and try to emulate last year's winner Alpinista, who was also a previous Lancashire Oaks heroine.
Burke said: "I was delighted, she's been banging all the door the whole time and she's such a genuine, tough filly. I think the slight change of tactics, just going that little bit more forward, has helped. She can be quite keen and because of that we've tried to drop her in and not let her over-race, but she's got more settled as the year has gone on.
"She ran well behind the favourite (Sea Silk Road) here last time and she actually beat her the time before. I think it's just how the race pans out sometimes. I'm delighted she's won a Group Two now."
Regarding a return to Group 1 level for another crack at the Yorkshire Oaks, Burke added: "Definitely, there's no reason not to go is there? She's run really well at York a few times, so that could be exciting."
