Refuse To Bend has sired two winners in three days to take his first-season tally to ten.
The two most recent scorers both hail from Mark Johnston’s stable. Tuesday’s Lingfield winner Feeling Fab won easily by four lengths while Liberation, who was successful at Brighton on Thursday, passed the post a length and a half in front of Mark Of Esteem two-year-old Appraisal.
Liberation, who runs in the colours of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, was making just his second racecourse appearance, having been beaten less than a length when third in a Sandown maiden in August. Bred by Epona Bloodstock Ltd, he is out of the Shirley Heights mare Mosaique Bleue and is a half-brother to G2 King Edward VII Stakes winner Subtle Power, who is by Refuse To Bend’s sire Sadler’s Wells.
Among the young stallion’s other winners are the Stakes-placed Canwinn and Favourite Girl, both recently coming within a neck of landing Listed contests at Deauville and Ripon. Canwinn is currently rated 99 by Timeform while Favourite Girl has been awarded a mark of 96. Other promising two-year-olds by Refuse To Bend are Acquiesced (86p) and Courageous, a first-start winner in August who was second in a conditions race under top weight at Doncaster on Thursday. In total, Refuse To Bend has 12 two-year-olds with a Timeform rating of 80 or above.
Doncaster was also the scene of victory for Royal Applause filly Royal Confidence, who won the Listed Sceptre Stakes. The three-year-old was placed last year in the G2 Rockfel Stakes and has now won three and been placed four times in 13 starts. She was bred by her owner D James and is out of the G2 Prix Robert Papin winner Never A Doubt (Night Shift).
