Allonsy takes Listed honours in Pontefract feature

Ralph Beckett’s Allonsy got back to winning ways in the Pontefract Castle Fillies’ Stakes.

The Kirsten Rausing-owned and bred filly had won three handicaps in a row last season before finishing second in Listed company at Ascot.

This season she had struggled at Goodwood and York, but she went into this Listed contest as the highest-rated in the field and fought out the finish with Karmology, who brought the second-highest figure.

Hector Crouch on the 7-1 chance ranged up alongside Karl Burke’s mare inside the final furlong and eventually got on top to win by a neck. Beckett’s Meribella was third.

Crouch told Racing TV: “It looked a nice race for her, she’d been pushed in at the deep end in Group Three company so to drop back into Listed class and get her head in front was very important for her owner/breeder.

“She’s extremely hardy. Once we got her figured out in her three-year-old career she did nothing but improve and she finished second in a Listed race at Ascot at the back-end of last year.

“She was a little bit frustrating last year until we switched to riding her really prominently, she’s grown up quite a lot now and you don’t have to ride her quite as forwards.

“We can go back up in grade now to see if she can gain more black type for her family, we’ve nothing to lose.”