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The five fastest winners of the Nunthorpe, from Pivotal to Battaash

Attracting some of the world's best, the Nunthorpe has seen some lightning-fast horses streak up the Knavesmire. But none faster than Battaash.

Once a low grade selling heat, the Nunthorpe Stakes has developed into a Grade 1 test of late August speed, featuring some of the quickest horses in the world.
Planet Sport is on hand to go through the fastest winners of the five furlong dash at York, with another speedy renewal on the cards.

5. Pivotal 56.53

It is a case of Pivotal by name and pivotal by nature for this speed merchant of a horse that has proved crucial in the breeding world.
The Sir Mark Prescott-trained Pivotal didn't get off the best of starts, trailing home in ninth in his opening maiden at Newbury.
But some horses are just destined to smash top sprints and the Cheveley Park-bred Pivotal won a near side versus far side duel with Mind Games at Ascot to take the 1996 King's Stand Stakes.
Pivotal's start stank in the 1996 Nunthorpe at York with George Duffield's mount finding five horses in front at three furlongs out.
However, Pivotal found a turn of foot in the closing stages and advanced on 16/1 outsider Eveningperformance to win by a short head. Who knows if the smart time of 56.53 could have been clipped even further with a better break from the stalls?

Pivotal went on to sire decent horses at various distances including William Haggas' current star Addeybb.

4. Mecca's Angel 56.24

The Michael Dods-trained Mecca's Angel joined the select group of consecutive winners of the Nunthorpe, registering a blistering time on her second win in 2016.
Few fillies bought for 16,000 guineas go on to be rated the world's leading female sprinter but Mecca's Angel achieved that after winning the Prix de Saint-Georges and the Nunthorpe in 2015.
Yet it was her 2016 Nunthorpe win which really caught the eye and York clock-watchers on the hop.
Racing as a five year-old, Mecca's Angel took on 15/8 favourite Limato on ground no faster than good on the Knavesmire.
In her noseband and carrying her jockey Paul Mulrennan in the red and white silks, Mecca's Angel was always the eye-catcher, dominating the race and eating up the final furlong York to win by two lengths from Limato.

3 Oasis Dream 56.20

Another star at stud as well as in the sprinting stakes, Oasis Dream proved a nightmare for his opponents in the early 2000s.

The John Gosden-trained Oasis Dream beat Aussie speedster Choisir to the Darley July Cup in a thrilling summer of 2003 that saw him crowned Cartier European Champion Sprinter.

But it was Oasis Dream's Nunthorpe win that had onlookers drooling as Richard Hughes' mount made all the running on a quick five furlongs at York.
Hughes broke lightning-quick in the famous pink and green Khalid Abdulla colours and there was only one horse in it as Oasis Dream skipped to a two-and-a-half length win from The Tatling in second.
Oasis Dream went on to sire such top racehorses as Midday and Muhaarar but it was his own sprint achievement in winning the Nunthorpe in 56.20 which lives long in the memory.

2. Dayjur 56.16

The name Dayjur still commands respect in sprint circles with a lightning run from 1990 that still stands the test of time.
While the best soccer players were battling out at Italia '90, the Major Dick Hearn-trained Dayjur was scoring in all the top sprints.
An easy win as a three-year-old in the Temple Stakes at Sandown was followed up in the King's Stand Stakes at Ascot with a similarly simple two-and-a-half length win from Ron's Victory at Ascot.
That set up the son of Danzig for a crack at the Nunthorpe in August 1990, where the Sheikh Hamdam Al-Maktoum colt was sent off the 8/11 favourite.
Willie Carson had a job of hanging onto to Dayjur as he broke promptly and engaged in a race with himself, with the field also-rans with just a furlong run.
Dayjur, the samurai sword of a horse, scythed through the field and won by a stunning four lengths from Statoblest in second.
"He was the best thoroughbred I ever rode," reminisced Carson, basking in a record time of 56.16. It was a time that was only beaten by a fellow Sheikh Hamdan horse that took speed to the next level.

1. Battaash 55.90

It was apt that when Dayjur's record was beaten it was done by a horse carrying the blue and white Shadwell stud colours of the late Sheikh Hamdam Al-Maktoum.
Battaash goes down as one of the best sprinters of all time with his sub-59-second-showing in the 2019 Nunthorpe one of his finest moments.
A specialist in the King George at Ascot, the beastly Battaash also made hay in other respected sprints such as the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp, which he won in 2017.
Battaash had run into problems in his first two runnings of the Nunthorpe, finishing fourth in 2017 and 2018 but put any suggestions that he couldn't handle York to bed with a blistering showing in 2019.
Jim Crowley broke well from stall one and gave Battaash the platform to prove he was in a class of his own, nudging his mount in front at two out and never looking back.
A three-and-half-length win in a five-furlong contest takes some doing and as the dust settled on Battaash's scorching victory it became clear that he had beaten Dayjur's record and rattled home in a mind-blowing 55.90.
Dajyur's Nunthorpe record stood for nearly 30 years and Battaash's could go on for a century.

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