The bookies had the better of the first £1m handicap to be run on the Flat in Britain as Mustajeer, at 16-1, led home a 1-2-3-4 for horses at double-figure odds in the SkyBet Ebor here. on Saturday. The happiest gamblers, in fact, were probably the Australian syndicate that recently agreed a deal to buy Mustajeer after his run on the Knavesmire and now have a horse with a guaranteed place in the field for November’s Melbourne Cup.
Mustajeer will head to the southern hemisphere leaving his former owners at Ger Lyons’s Irish stable £600,000 better off, thanks to what was ultimately a comfortable success from stall two – only the second win for a runner from a single-figure draw in the last 11 years.
Colin Keane got away from the stalls well and settled towards the front of the field as Ben Vrackie and Frankie Dettori set a good gallop. Mustajeer then moved up to challenge after passing the three-furlong pole and was in front with a quarter of a mile to run. The six-year-old, who was beaten less than a length at Group Three level earlier in the season, never looked likely to be caught from there.
Red Galileo finished second for the leading apprentice Cieren Fallon, son of the former champion jockey Kieren, while Desert Skyline and Raymond Tusk also made the frame. Raheen House, heavily backed all day to start favourite at 5-1, was only 9th.
“That’s his last race for us,” Kerri Lyons, her father’s assistant trainer, said. “He’s been sold to go to Australia but David [Spratt, Mustajeer’s former owner] still owns a share. Hopefully it will be the Caulfield Cup and then the Melbourne Cup.
“That will be a dream come true and he’ll do well for the new owners [Australian Bloodstock]. Everything went to plan and credit goes to David and my dad, because David buys these horses at the horses-in-training sale and he has a great record with them.
“I think that’s only his third win for us but he has been placed in quite a few races and it all came through today. We knew he would run well but you never know in these big handicaps what will happen and everything worked perfectly. He can get quite worked up at the start, so he went only once around the parade ring and we managed to keep a lid on him until he got to the start.”
Ger Lyons, who watched from his stable in County Meath, will receive nearly £50,000 as his share of the Ebor’s record prize fund but was apparently quite nonchalant about the outcome. “Fantastic performance by ctkjockey & Mustajeer and my team winning the Ebor,” Lyons said on Twitter shortly afterwards. “Now I’m off out to cut the grass.”
Mustajeer is quoted at 16-1 by Paddy Power for the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Park on 5 November.
At Goodwood Rossa Ryan recorded the first Group Two success of his career at the first attempt as his mount Duke Of Hazzard stayed on strongly to win the Celebration Mile.
Ryan, who is in his first season without a claim, was replacing PJ McDonald, who was aboard Duke Of Hazzard when the colt took a Group Three over the same course and distance earlier in the month. Ryan rode a well-judged race to lead well inside the final furlong before holding off the late charge of Turgenev.
“I didn’t sleep very well last night,” Ryan said. “I spent all night on my tablet going through all the form and working out how the race would pan out. When PJ had commitments at York, it meant a lot to me to be given the chance riding a horse of such high profile.”
Goodwood 2.00 Hashtagmetoo 2.30 Queen’s Soldier 3.00 Great Example (nap) 3.35 Luna Magic 4.10 Momkin (nb) 4.45 Alemagna
5.20 Zac Brown 5.50 Ascot Day
Beverley 2.10 Rousayan 2.40 Yoshimi 3.15 Harry Love
3.50 Metronomic 4.25 Dutch Coed 5.00 One To Go
5.30 Blyton Lass 6.00 Burtonwood
Yarmouth 2.20 Sudona 2.50 Elector 3.25 Charming Spirit
4.00 Fred 4.35 Solid Stone 5.10 Light And Dark 5.40 Global Hope
