Lightning Spear wins second Celebration Mile

Lightning Spear became just the second horse to win two renewals of the Gr. 2 Celebration Mile at Goodwood on Saturday.

After being placed at the highest level for the fourth time in the Sussex Stakes at the Qatar Goodwood Festival on his previous start, Qatar Racing's Lightning Spear gained another reward for his consistency when getting up late in the six-runner Celebration Mile on Saturday.

In a muddling race, both the eventual runner-up Zonderland and third Hathal got first run on Lightning Spear, but he called on his class in the final furlong and came with a strong run under Oisin Murphy, the pair crossing the line in unison with Zonderland, who had filled the runner-up spot behind Lightning Spear in the race 12 months earlier.

It was a photo finish and the result wasn't announced straight away, but it turned out Oisin had produced him perfectly on the line, and when the verdict was officially announced it's fair to say Oisin was pretty happy - click here to see him celebrate.

Lightning Spear is a credit to his trainer David Simcock, and David's wife Jennie who rides Lightning Spear out regularly, and hopefully there are more wins to come from this tough and very talented 6-year-old.

Lightning Spear emulated Chic (2004-05) as a dual winner of the Celebration Mile, and maybe he'll try and make the record his own next year.