New Black-Type Winner By Soldier Of Fortune

Royal Infantry (5g Soldier Of Fortune – Sovereign Lass, by Presenting) made it two from two under rules when leading home a 1-2 for Coolmore NH sires in Saturday’s Listed bumper at Newbury.

The Soldier Of Fortune gelding joined Dan Skelton after winning a maiden for Francesca Poste and made a successful start for new connections at Doncaster last month. Reunited with Harry Skelton on Saturday, he raced towards the back of the field for much of the way and began to make headway from over three furlongs out. Pushed along a furlong later, he was ridden to lead inside the final furlong and kept on well to beat Noahsgreatrainbow (Milan) by two lengths.

Dan Skelton is now planning another step up in class for the winner, with the Grade 2 bumper at Aintree next on the agenda. “Royal Infantry has won races at flat tracks and will get his chance around Cheltenham at some point because he's a high-class horse, but I don't think we need to subject to the festival and the bumper there in a few weeks. We'll look at Aintree.”

Owned by Craig and Laura Buckingham, Royal Infantry becomes the first black-type performer out of his dam Sovereign Lass. He was bred by Kevin Neville and has a four-year-old full-brother yet to run.