Karl Burke and Clifford Lee team up to bring home the Pontefract Silver
Shayem made it three wins from four starts when landing the feature Listed British Stallion Studs EBF Silver Tankard Stakes at Pontefract yesterday.
The odds-on favourite carved out the running, leading the one mile and six furlong contest from start to finish to record an impressive four-and-a-quarter-length success for the irrepressible Karl Burke and Clifford Lee combination.
Adrian Keatley’s Rochfortbridge (11-1) came home in second, with Tim Easterby’s Daydreama (14-1) a further seven lengths back in third.
It was one of two winners on the card for the pair, who also landed the Napoleons Casino Bradford Handicap with Tele Red (5-1) a two-length victor over Ben Haslam’s 40-1 runner-up Lightening Company.
Jockey Lee also tasted success on the strong-finishing 3-1 favourite Ohara in the mile and six furlong William Hill Each Way Extra Nursery for Eve Johnston Houghton – to complete a 35-1 treble for the rider.
Leyburn’s Burke also enjoyed a third winner of the day across in France, when his sprinter Pearl Fortune (4-1) struck in the five furlong Criter.vitesse Listed Stakes at Deauville, as the trainer closes in on £3.5m prize money won in the calendar year.
Malton jockey Joanna Mason also enjoyed a double on the Pontefract card, winning the opening six-furlong Happy 60th Birthday Jane Phillips Restricted Maiden Stakes on Kody B (11-4), with a great front-running ride for Norton handler Craig Lidster.
Mason also took the concluding sprint, the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap, on The Good Biscuit (9-2 jt-fav) for Stillington’s Ruth Carr.
Northallerton’s Grant Tuer saw 5-2 favourite Sophia’s Starlight land the spoils in the six-furlong British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies' Handicap under Oliver Stammers, holding off the challenge of Richard Fahey’s Stormy Impact, ridden by apprentice Warren Fentiman.
Divine Comedy was the day’s other winner, justifying cramped odds of 2-13 when sealing a bloodless 16-length success in the stayers’ Phil Bull Trophy Honouring Geoff Greetham Conditions Stakes over two miles and two furlongs, for trainer Harry Eustace and pilot Kaiya Fraser.
The aforementioned Rochfortbridge is one of 13 entries still standing for Saturday’s William Hill Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster.
Impressive Leopardstown winner Benvenuto Cellini is one of nine Aidan O’Brien-trained colts still in contention
The Ballydoyle handler dominates the Group One heat with last month’s Group Two winner an odds-on shot to add to his tally in a race that could also feature his Zetland Stakes-winning stablemate Pierre Bonnard.
Action, Frescobaldi, Hawk Mountain, New Zealand, Dorset, Piazza San Marco and Port Of Spain complete O’Brien’s list.
The Andrew Balding-trained Item looks a legitimate contender but with the going currently described as soft, heavy in places, very testing ground could rule him out.