Bravery rewarded in Lincoln victory for Tudhope

Yet, as the David O’Meara-trained horse narrowly denied the Ryan Moore-ridden Oh This Is Us by a tantalising neck, it was hailed as the result “that saved bookmakers millions”, to paraphrase ITV commentator Richard Hoiles.

With Moore unstoppable in the first three races courtesy of wins on Tupi, Ballet Concerto and Kool Company, victory by his heavily-backed Lincoln mount would have cost the betting industry a reputed £40m because of the aggregate value of accumulator bets by punters whose faith in the world class jockey is absolute.

For this, bookmakers like Leeds-based William Hill, who stood to lose at least £5m, can thank Tudhope’s inspired decision after being drawn unfavourably in stall 20 in the 22-runner cavalry charge over the straight mile.

Instead of staying closest to the stands where earlier runners had struggled, he deliberately missed the break so he could hack over to the far side where ground conditions were more to his liking.

Having made this decision so early, Bravery enjoyed an inconvenienced passage and overhauled Moore’s mount in the final strides to spare the bookmakers their worst result since Frankie Dettori’s ‘magnificent seven’ at Ascot in 1996.

Back in fourth was past winner Gabrial who made up a lot of ground under Ebor-winning jockey Adam McNamara.

“It was impossible to know what sort of a race he’d run, to be honest, as we didn’t know much about him,” said Tudhope.

“After the Spring Mile I’d said to David to take him over there, just to get him settled more than anything, and I managed to get him switched off.

“He looks an exciting horse; hopefully we can go back up in class.”

Formerly trained by Aidan O’Brien, Bravery finished fourth in last season’s Irish 2000 Guineas before being snapped up by North Yorkshire-based O’Meara, whose forte is getting the most out of those horses that have untapped potential.

The 20-1 winner cost just 44,000 guineas and O’Meara said: “I thought it was a fantastic ride. After the Spring Mile, Danny said he was going to bite the bullet and take him over to the far side.

“He purposefully missed the break, which helped get him settled, and he made a beeline to get over there. He’d been working with Mondialiste and Custom Cut and when he (Custom Cut) ran well earlier, I thought he’d run a big race. I’ll talk about plans with his owner, but hopefully he can go back up in class.”

Yesterday, the Upper Helmsley trainer said Bravery had taken his exertions well. “He’s come out of the race well and eaten up, so everything is perfect,” reported O’Meara.

“We could step him up in class, but there is some good money on offer in these big handicaps, so we’ll see.”

The aforementioned Moore began the day by winning the Listed Cammidge Trophy on Hannon’s Tupi, who streaked to a four-length success over Captain Colby.

The Spring Mile went to Sir Michael Stoute’s Ballet Concerto who defied top weight to beat Sinfonietta by three-quarters of a length after just failing to make the cut for the Lincoln.

Moore then produced a master class to win on Richard Hannon’s Kool Kompany in the Doncaster Mile.

The 2015 Craven winner has had an unsuccessful spell in Australia, but has clearly retained all his ability, getting up in the final stride to beat last year’s Craven scorer Stormy Antarctic.

Surprisingly, there were two divisions of the Brocklesby Stakes, traditionally the first race for two-year-olds on turf.

The first division was won by Sledmere trainer Declan Carroll’s Santry, who looked green, but nonetheless thrived under a fine educational ride by Neil Farley.

“That’s no surprise to me,” said Carroll. “We’ve not done a whole lot with him, but he’s been a natural since day one.”

The second division went to Richard Fahey’s Requinto Dawn.

“He’s a proper two-year-old type. From day one he’s always been pretty forward,” said Malton-based Fahey.

Irish Derby entry Dubawi Prince landed the 10-furlong maiden under Andrea Atzeni, with trainer Roger Varian indicating he will now test the water in a Derby trial.

But this was a day that will long be remembered for Tudhope’s ride when fortune truly favoured the brave.