LABAN’s win in a three-year-old and upward Non-Restricted Overnight Allowance event over 7 furlongs (1,400m) on Sunday, November 20, 2022 came as no surprise to trainer Richard Azan, who believes that as his charge gets older, the better he runs at longer distance races.

“As he [Laban] gets older he has shown that he prefers it [races] going longer.

“The jockey (Anthony Thomas) and I agreed on that and that’s why we are here. And so, the results are there as he won. The jockey rode him correctly; I didn’t give him any instructions as he rode how he thought he should ride him, and he won,” Azan told this publication.

He added; “It’s an Overnight Allowance, and he has been able to handle the class, I think he is comfortable where he is and he is still sound, and that’s the most important thing.”

Bred by Sensational Slam out of For Trixie, Laban sat just behind the pace for most of the way before producing a thunderous run in deep stretch to win by a length and a half ahead of Big Big Daddy (Richard Henry) and Positive ID (Jerome Innis). The final time for the highlighted event was 1:26.1.

— Ruddy Allen