Karl Burke© Photo Healy Racing
Lethal Levi booked his ticket to the Ayr Gold cup when cutting loose on the front-end to return to winning ways in the TPT Fire Handicap at Newbury.
A winner here in May, Karl Burke’s five-year-old has performed with real consistency this term, subsequently finishing fourth in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and then second in the Bunbury Cup.
Badly hampered when disappointing in the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood most recently, he put that result behind him in the hands of Clifford Lee, hanging on gamely from the chasing pack in the closing stages of this seven-furlong event.
Burke said: “It was a great performance. It wasn’t the initial plan to come here and he has been pretty busy.
“At Goodwood, when he got knocked over, I don’t think it made any difference in terms of him winning, but he would have finished a bit closer and on the tails of the placed horses that day.
“It is so important that he jumps out and he jumps out much cleaner these days with the blinkers on. For whatever reason, he was giving races away, but Cliff gets on great with him and once he got an easy lead like that, I was sure he would run well and I was just hoping he would hang on.
“At this time of year, with these old horses, if they are not fit now, they are never going to be, so you don’t have to overdo them at home and just keep them happy.
“He’s a brilliant old horse and he will probably head to the Ayr Gold Cup now.”
The father and daughter team of Rachel Cook and John Bridger saddled recent recruit Faustus to also make most and land the Play The BetVictor Predictor Now Handicap in the hands of apprentice rider Joe Leavy.
Sent off at 16-1 on his second start for the yard, the six-year-old wears the silks of Cook’s father-in-law Peter Cook and looks an able replacement to connections’ retired 123-race veteran Pettochside.
“My father-in-law bought him at Doncaster three weeks ago and he finished third at Windsor on his first start for us,” said Cook.
“We took a chance to run him here. We’ve done very little with him really, just a few canters and maybe the change of yard has worked, I don’t know! It’s brilliant.
“I don’t really know much about him and the owner needed another one like Pettochside, who is retired now. Faustus is six now, which is the same age as when we got Pettochside, and he’s that type of horse really who we can go racing with and have some fun with him.”
To continue the order of the day, Richard Hannon’s Mukaber took a solo path up the far side as he never missed a beat in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes.
Jamie Spencer’s mount was sent off at 9-1 in a deep-looking field, but having sailed home to win cosily by three-and-a-quarter-lengths, it would be no surprise if he moved into better company before the end of the season.
“I was surprised he hasn’t run better in his starts before this, as I rode him in Ireland before he ever went to the sales and I loved him – and for whatever reason, he just hasn’t performed before now,” said Spencer.
“He’s a big horse and he’s probably only getting his strength now and got the seven furlongs. I think when he gets stronger, he will hit the line even better than he did today.
“This horse is talented and you would hope he will get a mile next year. Richard had Haatem for these boys (owners) and hopefully he could be something like him.”
Ralph Beckett’s 2-1 favourite Hutchence landed the Chapel Down Handicap, while the concluding Childwickbury Stud Handicap went the way of Andrew Balding’s T’Challa, who struck at 5-1 in the hands of Oisin Murphy.
