Kieren Fallon fans came in for an unexpected windfall as Bangalore prevailed at the generous odds of 16 to 1 in the Beast Fair Maiden at Pontefract yesterday.
Truant (8 to 13) had looked sure to win when travelling comfortably on the heels of the leaders with three to go. But he did not find as much as Richard Quinn expected and Bangalore swept by in the final 100 yards to score by three-parts of a length.
"That was a nice surprise for us," admitted trainer Barry Hills' representative John Burrows. "He's a lazy horse type of horse and should be able to improve on this."
Toby Balding was an apt entrant into the winner's enclosure as Cugina obliged in conditions more suitable for jumps racing.
Balding is much better known as a National Hunt trainer and he had drawn a blank with his only three runners at the West Yorkshire track in the past five years.
But there was clearly plenty of confidence behind Cugina in the High-Rise Classified Stakes after torrential rain turned the course into a mudbath.
Sent to the front with less than two to travel, the 7 to 2 chance galloped on strongly under Steve Drowne to take care of Somayda.
"I have had winners here but it's so long ago I can't remember when it was," said Balding.
Mary Reveley sent out four for the Levy Board Handicap and it was the shortest-priced of the trainer's quartet, Old Hush Wing, that landed the spoils.
He nosed ahead near the finish to foil the valiant Jamaican Flight who had tried to make all in the stamina-sapping conditions.
Tony McCoy is all set to retain the British jump jockeys' crown when the curtain comes down on this season but insisted at Chepstow yesterday that his appetite for record-breaking remains as strong as ever.
And just to prove the point he showed all his skill when driving Martin Pipe's Belmorebruno to a six-length victory over Baroncelli for the Weatherby's Turf News Handicap Chase.
Reflecting on a season that has proved very controversial for McCoy due to his repeated brushes with authority and the bans that ensued, he stated that riding as many winners as possible remained high on his curriculum.
"I've not had the greatest of seasons by my standards and I've no chance of getting 200 winners this time because of the bans but, although I'm very mindful of that, my job remains to ride as many winners as I can," said the champion who is now on the 153-winner mark for the term.
"I'm going to take a little break for a week or so some time after the Punchestown Festival, whenever suitable as far as riding is concerned, so that I'm back fresh and flying for the summer jumping campaign.
