A review of the rest of the action from Thursday's meeting at York where Zain Claudette claimed the scalp of Sandrine.
Claudette claims Sandrine scalp
Zain Claudette held off the late thrust of favourite Sandrine to win the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes.
The runner-up, who was losing her unbeaten record, came off the bridle two furlongs out but knuckled down to her task well.
However the 6/1 winner was in front and finding plenty under Ray Dawson, running on strongly to score by a length.
Paddy Power make the winner a 4/1 chance (from 16s) for the Cheveley Park at Newmarket.
"She’s improved with every run and she deserved to win that on her performance,” Dawson told ITV Racing.
“Going forwards, Group One is definitely not out of the equation, she’s just so straightforward and you can see she’s so relaxed. It’s just an absolute pleasure to be a part of it.”
Winning turn for Pointers
Cruyff Turn hit the back of the net in the Clipper Logistics Handicap for David Allan and Tim Easterby.
The 28/1 chance made all of the running, holding on in the final strides to cross the line in front.
Frankie Dettori was second on Magical Morning at 12/1, Astro King (7/1 joint-favourite) was third and Fox Champion fourth at 25/1.
It's was a great result for our Punting Pointers team who put Cruyff Turn up as a selection at 40.0 on the exchanges.
Co-owner Andrew Gemmell has had some great days in the same colours with top hurdler Paisley Park, and was delighted to have a York winner.
He said: “I love this meeting, I’ve always wanted a winner here so this is just unreal. The thrill is fantastic and to get one here, I just can’t believe it. He’s as tough as teak and a winner for a local trainer.”
Big pay-day for Given
Ever Given was the winner of the £200,000 Goffs UK Premier Yearling Stakes.
Starting as the 3/1 favourite, the Tom Dascombe-trained colt claimed his fourth career victory – and most lucrative yet – under Danny Tudhope.
Atomic Lady was second at 12-1 and the third-placed horse was 9-2 chance Wings Of War, with the front three clear.
Tudhope said: “He’s very tough, he’s got a lovely attitude and he never knows when to lie down. He’ll just keep going for you, this just shows you how tough he is. I had a nice tow into the race and he picked up well.”
Dascombe added: “What a tough horse, I’ve been quite hard on him but he’s improved with every run. He won at Goodwood and then we sent him to Ireland three days later and he ran a blinder there, too.
“He’s come here and really toughed it out, Danny gave him a great ride – it all panned out. I’m just lucky to train him.
“I hate saying what we’ll do just 10 minutes after a race so we’ll have a chat and then choose, but he’s a prize-money horse. He’s in the Redcar race and we’ll keep him for next season.”
Rest of the action
There can not have been many instances in racing’s illustrious history when two jockeys who are engaged fight out the finish and the winning distance is just a nose, but that was the case when Hollie Doyle on Forbearance edged out Tom Marquand on Domino Darling.
Trained in Ireland by Jessica Harrington, Forbearance (12-1) had finished third in a Group Three last time out so was dropping in class and trip for the Listed British EBF & Sir Henry Cecil Galtres Stakes.
The two pulled clear from some way out and they flashed by the post together, but it was Doyle who claimed the bragging rights.
“I just about thought I’d won. I tracked Tom the whole way because I could see he was going very well while I was going just about as fast as I could,” said Doyle.
“I knew she’d stay well and I didn’t want to get done for toe and it has been hard to make ground up today so I didn’t want to be too far back. She was very brave, there were numerous occasions I thought we were going to get defeated, but she stuck her neck out.”
She added: “It doesn’t happen very often, me beating Tom, as he usually gets the better of me and when I saw it was him upsides I thought ‘crumbs, here we go again’. After the line he did say ‘well done’ as he thought he’d been beaten.”
Andrew Balding suffered a rare recent reversal when Sandrine was a beaten favourite in the Lowther earlier on the card but got on the mark when providing Oisin Murphy with another winner when Harrow prevailed in the OR8Wellness EBF Stallions Nursery Handicap.
Sent off at 6-1 having won at Ffos Las last time out, the champion jockey had to be at his strongest to get home a length and a half in front of Alflaila and Maglev, who dead-heated for second.
Murphy said: “It was a bit of a slog this morning as that 8st 4lb is the lightest I’ve done for a very long time, and I put up 1lb over so I have to thank connections for allowing me to stay on.
“He’s starting to grow out of his quirks and he has a high level of ability. I think he’ll go on and do better next year. We’ve always liked him on his home work and he’s won a very competitive nursery there.”
