The Listed Coral.ie Midsummer Sprint Stakes at Cork went ‘for export’ for the fourth time in the last six years today with the Robert Cowell trained Spirit Quartz under Derby winning jockey Pat Smullen.

Smullen’s mount quickened and moved past Ardhoomey inside the final furlong for a half length win and afterwards Harzand’s jockey stated “it was a good opportunity for him and the ease in the ground was a big help. He was a little bit buzzy in the gates but I was happy to follow Danny (Grant on leader Little Sweetheart and then I put it up to the second horse (Ardhoomey).

“He is a good solid sprinter and this is just a grade above them. He is getting on in years but still retains a lot of his enthusiasm.”

Spirit Of Quartz's win was following on from British trained winners in 2011 (Inxile for trainer Dandy Nicholls), 2012 (Mirza, Rae Guest) and 2015 (Line Of Reason, Paul Midgely).

By Tom Weekes