Aspire To Glory returned to the turf on Saturday, for the first time in almost two years, running over a mile at Leicester.

After three less than ideal runs on the all-weather since moving to Dylan Cunha's yard, the Newmarket trainer decided that he would look to change things up. Therefore, in a move that was designed to try to encourage some improvement in Aspire To Glory, he gave our five-year-old his first run on the turf since he made the long journey to Ayr in August of 2024. 

Drawn in stall six of nine, we expected there to be a degree of bustling at the start to try and get a favourable position as the field ran uphill towards the first bend, which appears at the top of the hill shortly after the mile trip's starting point. Thankfully, the field broke with little incident and Aspire To Glory was able to attach himself to the group that went forwards early in the contest and as they hit the bend, our gelding was in a clear third position behind early pacemaker, Sovereign Bright, and Avispado. 

As they exited the bend, young apprentice, Ashley Lewis, began to get to work on Aspire To Glory and the five pound claimer was getting a great tune out of him until they got to the final furlong of the race. Aspire To Glory was unable to keep up the pace in the final stage of the race, eventually coming home in sixth place, in what was an encouraging run. 

We caught up with Ashley Lewis after the race and he told us how the contest played out from the saddle: 

"I was really pleased with the way he broke, he left the stalls well and came out third. The front two went off at a really hard pace out in front and I've tried to not go right with them to save some energy for the latter stages of the race. Once we hit the bend he just kept changing his legs every three or four strides, which makes me think that the good to firm ground is probably just a bit too quick for him, so maybe good ground would be perfect for him. Once we got inside the final two furlongs of the race, the pace of the race caught up with him, and because they went so quickly in the first instance, he's just ended up falling away and chased them home in behind. 

I'd definitely go back to the all-weather with him, you can see in his form that something seems to ignite in him on the all-weather as opposed to on the turf."

Trainer, Dylan Cunha, sent us this message the day after Aspire To Glory's run at Leicester with an update on what the near future could hold for him: 

"Aspire To Glory came out of the race in good order. I think that the very quick early pace in the race was likely the undoing of Aspire To Glory's chances, as well as the slightly firmer ground catching him out. His handicap mark has dropped to 50 now, so we'll be looking at some Classified races for him to run in soon. The first of those comes at Thirsk on the 16th, followed by a couple more at Yarmouth, Catterick and then Brighton in early August. 

We think he's really well handicapped now, so if we can get him into a Classified field, hopefully he can get his head in front again."

Check back soon to see whether Aspire To Glory will return to the all-weather for his next run, or whether Dylan Cunha finds some optimal ground for him to head out on the turf on.