Rumstar in Royal Ascot picture with Palace House win

Rumstar enjoyed the biggest success of his career with a taking performance in the Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool Palace House Stakes at Newmarket.

Jonathan Portman’s five-year-old won the Cornwallis over track and trip as a juvenile and ended last season by scooping Listed honours at Ascot, but put himself in the picture for all the major sprinting prizes this season with victory in this Group Three event.

Sent off at 7-1 in the hands of Robert Hornby from stall one, the son of Havana Grey moved stylishly into contention approaching the final furlong and showed plenty of speed to run down Irish raider She’s Quality before asserting in the closing stages to score by a length and a quarter.

Portman said: “We’ve very much been looking forward to running him, it seems a long time since October – he’s been in fantastic form, he looks stronger this year.

“It’s great to be winning in this company. When he won at Ascot we were worried it would be too soft, I think he’s fine unless it’s too heavy. The Rowley Mile has been very kind to me, we’ve won lots of nice races here. We’ll be back whenever we can.

“I think we had him where we wanted him for today. Sprinters can improve with age and he’s definitely stronger this year, I don’t weigh them but he’s definitely heavier.”

Rumstar was cut to 25-1 from 50s for the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot and that could Group One event could now be on the agenda.

Portman added: “I had to ring the owner the other day to ask permission to enter him for £4,000 or whatever it was to put him in at Royal Ascot and he still hasn’t recovered today, so hopefully now I’ve spent it we’ve probably got to go there now.

“Do I think he’s a Group One sprinter? Probably not, but with these sprinters you never know. There’ll probably be plenty from overseas, but this is where we want to be.”