Gabrial’s success in Lincoln heralds great start to Flat year

Not only did Ryedale trainers produce a notable one-two in the £100,000 Betway Lincoln Handicap, but a Classic contender emerged, a clutch of seasoned campaigners returned to action in a blaze of glory and one of the area’s brightest riding talents immediately got back on the winning trail.

The success of Gabrial, trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by Tony Hamilton, to capture the traditional opening highlight was a thrilling encounter.

For much of the race, it looked as though his path was blocked and it would take a miracle to get a clear run. But, thanks to Hamilton’s skill and cool, he found daylight in the nick of time and ran down the David O’Meara-trained Mondialiste in the final 50 yards to gain a neck verdict.

“He was getting ‘killed’,” said Fahey, recalling his reaction two furlongs out when Gabrial was struggling for room in the tightly-packed field. “Mind you, it looked as if he was cantering. It was just a question of whether he’d get out in time. Luckily he did.”

“He’s been a good horse all his life,” added Fahey, who had won a Listed race with Gabrial on the same Doncaster card two years earlier. Last winter, the gelding won in Dubai and contested the Godolphin Mile on Dubai World Cup night and, earlier in his career, he had contested races like the Diomed Stakes at Epsom, the Queen Anne and St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, finishing third to the mighty Frankel.

“He’s always been a bit of a character, but he’s been a good horse all his life. This is the first time I’ve seen him pin his ears back and have a real go.”

Hamilton, who had gained a short-head triumph on Fahey’s Brae Hill in the 2012 Lincoln, was always confident he’d win, provided he could find a way through.

“I was tracking the right two horses, but they weren’t getting a lot of room either. If you sit long enough, a gap will come and, once they split, I got a run between them and he finished off really well.”

The first prize of £62,250 pushed Gabrial’s career earnings through the £330,000 mark and provided owner Dr Marwan Koukash, also previously associated with Brae Hill, with another celebratory moment on Town Moor.

“When you come into racing, it’s big races you want to win,” said Koukash, who was supported by a squad of players from his own Super League club Salford Red Devils and others from Hull Kingston Rovers. “And now, thanks to Richard, we’ve won it twice. I am absolutely delighted.”

For O’Meara and Danny Tudhope, it was a case of so near with Mondialiste, who was mugged by Gabrial late on, but who finished two lengths clear of the remainder of the field, which included Gabrial’s Kaka, representing the winning connections, who finished 17th. “I expected him to run well and he did,” said the Nawton trainer of his French recruit, a 190,000 euros purchase out of Freddy Head’s yard. “We know Gabrial is a good horse with Listed and Group race form. There are no firm plans, but we will probably go for a Listed race next with our horse rather than hammering him in handicaps.”

For Gabrial, a trip across the M62 in May to Chester, Koukash’s favourite course, is firmly on the agenda. “He’ll go for the Huxley Stakes next,” said the owner without hesitation. “That’s sorted then,” joked Fahey. “We’d better not miss the entry.”

It was some two days for Fahey. He was also on the mark on day two with battle-hardened handicappers Tatlisu and Mica Mika.

The former provided Jack Garritty with a flying start to the season and left the crack apprentice requiring only four more winners to reduce his claim to 3lb. As for Mica Mika, for whom Fahey was considering retirement, he obliged in the hands of Paul Hanagan, who was riding his second winner on the Doncaster programme, having landed the Group 1 Godolphin Mile at Meydan the previous afternoon. “I landed at Heathrow at 8.30am, went to Newmarket and then came up to Doncaster. I feel fine, but I imagine, I’ll sleep well tonight,” he joked.

• DAVID O’MEARA could have a Classic aspirant on his hands in Hail The Hero, whose smooth success in maiden company at Doncaster had his owners dreaming of a crack at the Qipco 2,000 Guineas.

Nick Bradley, of the Middleham Park owners’ group, said: “He’ll go to Newmarket for the Craven Stakes and then the Guineas. It’s tilting at windmills, but we’ve won the Craven and the Nell Gwyn before and it’s a track we’ve got a good handle on.”

O’Meara said of the former Aidan O’Brien-trained colt, a son of Gallileo who had gone through the yearling ring at 525,000gns, before being sold again privately last October: “He showed a good level of form in three runs in Ireland last year and what I liked about the way he’s won is that he did it in a nice relaxed manner.”

O’Meara clearly has his horses in rude health. Apart from Hail The Hero and his near-miss in the Lincoln, he also went close with the evergreen Penitent, Fattsota and juvenile debutante First Bombardment, while Sheriff Of Nawton ran out a comfortable winner in the hands of his stylish and much-improved apprentice Josh Doyle.

• TOM EAVES has made a flying start to the Flat turf season. The Norton jockey completed a double at Chelmsford on the opening day aboard Saeed bin Suroor’s Emirates Airlines and the David Simcock-trained Majeed, and followed up with a 14-1 success at Doncaster on Sunday on the Richard Guest-trained Johnny Cavagain.

“It’s nice to make a good start,” said. “But it’s early days yet!”

• ALBEN STAR will spearhead a squad of Ryedale runners at Lingfield’s £1.1 million All-Weather Championships meeting on Friday.

The Richard Fahey-trained speedster picked up a near £100,000 first prize when winning the Sprint at last year’s inaugural meeting with a last-gasp victory under Paul Hanagan and is heading back, hopefully, to complete an encore.

He could be joined by Maiden Approach in the Flat & Mares Championship and also La Dorotea, who holds an entry in the Three-Year-Old Mile Championship.

Brawby trainer Geoff Oldroyd will be well represented in the Ladbrokes All-Weather Mile Championship. He is set to saddle Alfred Hutchinson, who is no stranger to the Surrey track.

Owned and bred by Reg Bond, Alfred Hutchinson has gained his last three wins at Lingfield. Fingers are crossed that his familiarity with the course will bring him a bumper prize.

David O’Meara could be represented by State Of The Union in the Three-Year-Old Sprint Championship. The former Richard Hannon-trained performer will need to fare better than he did on his reappearance at Wolverhampton last week.