Watch what happens when a sprinter compares training regimes with a racehorse
In just 10 days time the world's top equine sprinter Harry Angel will run at Britain’s richest raceday, QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot (21 October 2017). Two legged sprinter Adam Gemili paid him a visit to compare their training regimes...
The four-legged sprinter
Winner of two Group One races, the three-year-old Harry Angel is trained by Lambourn-based Clive Cox.
“He has a lot of talent,” says Clive. “He’s always shown us that quality — it’s about raw ability and producing that fine edge to go and compete on the right day.
“With more racing experience I think the confidence has grown enormously. Ascot itself is a big amphitheatre — there’s an awful lot of atmosphere there to deal with for any horse, and it can get the better of some horses on the day.”
The two-legged sprinter
Gemili was part of the 4x100m gold medal relay team at this summer’s World Athletics Championships along with CJ Ujah, Daniel Talbot and Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake.
“It was such a privilege to go and visit Harry Angel ahead of him running at QIPCO British Champions Day,” he says.
“I was blown away by how many similarities there are between my training regime and his, including maintaining fitness, scheduling faster sprint work and getting ready for competition. It was amazing to meet him and his trainer Clive Cox and I can’t wait to see him race on the day.”
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What is the QIPCO British Champions Series?
The series is designed to throw the spotlight on Britain’s best Flat races and climaxes on 21 October with QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot.
It features 35 Flat races staged at 10 of the UK’s leading racecourses: Ascot, Doncaster, Epsom Downs, Goodwood, Haydock Park, Newbury, Newmarket’s July Course, Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, Sandown Park and York.
There are five easy-to-follow champion categories — sprint, mile, middle distance, long distance and fillies and mares.
To get your tickets to QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot racecourse, including George Ezra after-party, go to britishchampionsday.co.uk
For our full report from QIPCO British Champions Day, don’t miss the 26 October 2017 issue of Horse & Hound magazine
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A graduate from Durham University, Madeleine joined H&H in 2011 and became Features Editor — producing content across the magazine and website, including the popular inside back cover article ‘The horse that made me’ and the weekly ‘The best of my fun…’ interview. She has written on topics as diverse as hay making and headcams, to hot totty in the horse world and circus horses. Madeleine now works as a freelance feature writer for Country Life, The Telegraph, Horse & Hound, cntraveller.com, The Spectator and The Field, as well as writing obituaries for The Times.