By Peter Moore at Newbury Saturday 18th July 2026
The ever-growing operation of Richard Spencer and Phil Cunningham teamed up to land the feature race at Newbury on Saturday, the Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes with Zigazig Ah.
The winning connections had a nervous wait for the outcome of the contest, with a photo-finish required to split Saffie Osborne’s mount and Angels Lane in a three-way dash to the line that also included Final Appeal.
However, Spencer’s team was on the right side of the call by a nose, to scoop the £143,000 first prize.
The two-year-old had already shown bags of ability after finishing second on her debut on the AW at Lingfield, before going one better at Yarmouth 22 days ago.
The horse, named after the lyrics, used in the Spice Girls 1996 hit Wannabe went off a low weight of 8 stone 4 pounds and gave the combination of Spencer and Cunningham another big hit after previously landing Spencer the Stewards’ Cup and Ayr Gold Cup last year.
It was a significant success for Cunningham as a breeder as well as an owner and he embraced Spencer within seconds of the photo-finish result.
“Wow! What can I say?” he said. “What an adrenaline rush – it’s amazing. There were no negatives for her. She had no weight and I knew she’d like the ground.”
Spencer said: “I hate celebrating. When you watch them cross the line like that, I try to stay neutral. There are times in the past when you think you win, but you get beaten. She was down with a couple of strides to go, and it was very close. But it’s great. We had the race planned out for a long time, and it’s why we sent Saffie to ride her on her debut [at Lingfield] and at Yarmouth. It’s all worked out well.”
Spencer added “I’m very lucky to be in the position I’m in with Phil and the family supporting the yard and the venture that was started 11 years ago. Working with them is great.”
With plenty of opportunities ahead of her, Spencer said: “There’s a race at Goodwood, the conditions race. We’ve got a big team going there, but she’s in other sales races, and I’d try to exploit them while we can before maybe going to France to pick up some black type.”
Richard Hannon believes Persica was a deserving winner of the Listed Steventon Stakes, and hopes there is plenty more to come after a first success in 13 months.
The five-year-old was beaten a nose in the Diomed Stakes on Derby weekend at Epsom, before finishing a close fifth in the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot and second at Sandown.
But today he went one better to register an eighth victory, and his first since winning at Epsom in June 2025, in scoring by three-quarters of a length.
Hannon said: “It’s his turn. He was unlucky at Epsom, and then he went to Royal Ascot before running a lovely race at Sandown. It’s nice to get his head in front because he’s a good horse and he’ll win more races.
“A lot of people think he needs soft ground. It’s a plus for him, but he goes on anything. He’s been second a few times, but he deserved that, and quite frankly, so did his owners. Epsom was hard – I thought he’d won. He won everywhere bar the line, but he’s made up for it today.”
William Buick continued his love for Newbury after bagging a double, just 24 hours after completing the same feat.
Symbol Of Honour started the Buick double after taking the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes by one and a half lengths from Mitbaahy.
The four-year-old had won a C&D listed race and Group 2 Sandy Lane at Haydock at the start of last summer. The gelding hasn’t reached the same heights since but finished a respectable third in a Group 3 at Newcastle three weeks ago.
Miss Scott under Buick turned the tables on Manaar after a comfortable one and three quarter lengths victory in the Darley EBF Fillies Novice Stakes.
When the two last met a month ago, it was Manaar who took the honours at the same course. Now 7lb better off, Miss Scott pulled clear at the 2f pole to run on well and put the race to bed.
It was also a profitable afternoon for Andrew Balding who completed a double at the Berkshire track with both Shrimp Shady and All Moonshine.