Egan lands historic four-timer at Newbury
DAVID Egan saddled four winners in a row, including the feature Mill Reef Stakes, at Newbury Racecourse as racing returned to the track for the first time since the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Three of those four winners came for Newmarket’s Roger Varian, who completed an incredible 34,838/1 across-the-cards seven-timer six days after he landed the second St Leger of his career.
As the racing world mourned the loss of its most revered supporter, racegoers observed two minutes of silence, delivered a rousing rendition of the national anthem and then the shout – God Save the King – ushered in a new era.
In a time of such change, Egan showed remarkable consistency as he landed four successive winners, the first of which came thanks to debutant Exoplanet , who beat Eve Johnson Houghton’s Bussento by a neck to win the day’s first race and looks to be an exciting prospect, with an entry in next year’s Epsom Derby already secured.
Egan then produced an impressive ride to win the afternoon’s second race, the Group 3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup Stakes aboard East Ilsley-based Hughie
Morrison’s Stay Alert.
The three-year-old made a late charge from the back of the pack to win on the line, a neck clear of Richard Hannon’s Fancy Man.
Egan made it a hat-trick 40 minutes later in the Group 3 Dubai International Airport World Trophy Stakes aboard Varian’s Mitbaahy, who recovered from a slow start to edge out the unfancied Teresa Mendoza and the pre-race favourite Manaccan on the line.
It was then time for the feature race, the 50th anniversary edition of the Group
2 Mill Reef Stakes, and Egan to complete his quadruple.
If the first three of Egan’s wins were close contests, this was anything but.
The odds-on favourite Sakheer proved a class above the field, finishing a comfortable three-and-a-half lengths clear of his nearest challenger and saw his odds for next year’s 2,000 Guineas slashed.
A new dawn now awaits the UK, the Commonwealth and the racing world – for Varian and Egan, that future looks very bright indeed.