SPEEDWAY: The other sort of horse power for Gary (From Swindon Advertiser)

SPEEDWAY: The other sort of horse power for Gary

10:44am Thursday 5th June 2008 in Sport By Anthony Marshall

GARY Patchett will be hoping for a hat-trick of successes this weekend as his two sporting loves head into action, writes ANTHONY MARSHALL.

The Robins co-owner will watch his speedway side try to extend their lead at the top of the Elite League with meetings tonight and on Saturday against the Peterborough and Eastbourne Eagles respectively.

And sandwiched in between, he could also be in for a share of the £140,000 prize when his horse Papal Ball competes for Group One glory in the Juddmonte Coronation Cup at Epsom tomorrow.

Papal Ball is already a multiple Group Two and Three winner, and Patchett, who is part of a consortium which owns the five-year-old, is confident that he can claim his maiden Group One win.

He said: "We were made aware in the early part of last summer that he was available and we got him quite cheaply in racing terms.

"It looked like he'd lost his way, which was why they were prepared to sell him, and we leased him back to Coolmore for the rest of the Flat season.

"The plan was to retire at the end of last season but Sir Michael Stoute (trainer) said maybe we should keep him in training.

"He said all the things that we wanted to hear. He said there's a lot of untapped potential, and that he's got a very good chance of winning a race."

Papal Bull will go head to head with 11 rivals tomorrow, and Patchett admitted that Epsom had been targeted as a realistic win.

"He's got a fantastic chance," he admitted. "He needs every inch of the mile-and-a-half, and he will fine with the ground.

"The going is good to soft, maybe easier than that. But it doesn't matter because he's won on soft and firm ground "We're fortunate that he's won decent races on both because there's some horses which have had to pull out because they won't cope with the ground.

"We look at Epsom as a Group One race we can target to win and we're really looking forward to it."