De Sousa maintains charge as Johnston celebrates

Mark Johnston sponsored Hamilton’s Always Trying Maiden Stakes yesterday and he took the prize back to Middleham after Mungo Park showed resolution so typical of one from his stable.

Having been hampered shortly after breaking from the stalls, the 15-8 chance was soon prominent and threw down a challenge to market leader Sunday Bess entering the final furlong.

The favourite would not go down without a fight and really stuck her neck out, but Mungo Park responded to all of Silvestre de Sousa’s urgings to prevail by a head as the jockey kept the pressure on champion Paul Hanagan in the title battle.

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The trainer’s son, Charlie, said: “He had an injury last year after he ran as a juvenile and he’d been off a long time.

“He’s not the most enjoyable ride at home and takes a lot of persuading to do anything, so it’s nice to see him get his head in front.

“He’s a very heavy-topped horse and he got a bit unbalanced but once Silvestre got him organised, he kept staying on up the hill.

“He should keep improving and you’d expect him to find his forte over longer trips.

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“We’ll be looking for a nice mile and six (furlongs) three-year-old handicap for him somewhere, maybe at Goodwood if there is one.”

Johnston had to settle for second best in the feature totepool Glasgow Stakes when Malthouse could not quite peg back Godolphin’s Hunter’s Light.

Johnston had won the last four renewals, including last year with St Leger third Corsica, but the writing was on the wall when Hunter’s Light loomed up to tackle Malthouse a quarter-of-a-mile from the finish.

Perhaps predictably, Johnston’s representative refused to budge in the closing stages and dug as deep as he could, but he could not quite peg back the 2-1 shot, who scored by a neck in the hands of Phillip Makin.

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Makin was completing a double after Sardanapalus justified strong market support in the British Stallion Studs Supporting British Racing EBF Maiden.

Hambleton handler Kevin Ryan is enjoying an excellent season with his juveniles and has yet another smart prospect on his hands, although those who backed the 5-4 favourite must have been concerned in the early stages after a slow start meant he was stuck in last place.

But he made eye-catching headway down the outside of runners to take closer order heading into the last of the six furlongs and he knuckled down well for Makin to score by a neck. Makin said: “The gates came back in his face and he didn’t come out of the stalls.

“Then two horses got in his way after two strides and I was a long way adrift.

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“He didn’t come down the hill either so I just let him fiddle away and put a line through the race, really.

“The way he came up the hill felt very impressive to me and if what happened to him happened to most horses, they’d have been well beat.

“He overcame a lot, so I’d say he’s quite a nice horse.”

Jarrow swooped late under a confident Adrian Nicholls to claim the totequickpick Handicap for his father David.

The 11-2 chance was still well back heading inside the last couple of furlongs but his jockey waited before switching his mount to get a clear run.

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Once Nicholls got lower in the saddle, Jarrow picked up in good style and the rider only had to push his mount out to the line to score by a cosy half-length from Sunrise Safari. “Things haven’t gone quite right for him this season as he’s kind of got one burst,” said Nicholls jnr.

“We all had a talk and decided I’d wait for as long as I could and he’s done it quite well.

“I always thought he had it in him to perform like that. They went quick and once we hit the rising ground, I knew he could use his turn of foot. It’s played into his hands.”

A great day for Yorkshire trainers was capped when Ann Duffield’s 8-1 chance Smart Violetta landed the concluding Hamilton Park Ladies Night Handicap.

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Premio Loco is being prepared to return to action at Salisbury next month following a below-par effort at Epsom on Derby day.

Chris Wall’s smart seven-year-old only beat one horse home when sent off a strong favourite for the Diomed Stakes after filling third place behind Canford Cliffs in the Lockinge Stakes.

He was not the only member of the Newmarket trainer’s string to disappoint around that time.

All appears well with the Wall team now and Premio Loco is being aimed at the totesport.com Sovereign Stakes at the Wiltshire track on August 11.

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“Epsom didn’t work out. We blamed the track on the day, but just at that time a lot of our horses started to run a bit flat and after it was very quiet at home,” said Wall.

“We had a few dirty noses and dirty scopes. Things weren’t quite right and he probably was a bit under a cloud that day.”