Sky Bet Ebor
Heritage Handicap, York 15:40
£1,000,000 added,
3yo plus,
1m 5f 188y, Class 2   
Saturday 24th August 2019

Horses 468x60 Jpg

1 Mustajeer 16/1
2 Red Galileo 25/1
3 Desert Skyline 25/1
4 Raymond Tusk 16/1
22 ran Distances: ¾l, ½l, ¾l
Time: 2m 52.97s (fast by 3.03s)

The six-year-old, trained in Ireland by Ger Lyons, was fourth behind Muntahaa in York’s summer showpiece 12 months ago and he returned to snatch glory in Europe’s richest Flat handicap.

Powerful syndicate Australian Bloodstock had taken a gamble buying into Mustajeer and it paid off in some order when the 16-1 shot held off Red Galileo, Desert Skyline and Raymond Tusk in the closing stages under jockey Colin Keane.

The total prizemoney for the Ebor had been upped to £1million ($1.8million) for the first time.

Having hit the jackpot in the 2,816m contest, Mustajeer now has two of Australia’s greatest races in his sights.

He will go into quarantine next month before joining Newcastle trainer Kris Lees for a crack at the Caulfield Cup and the Lexus Melbourne Cup.

Lyons wasn’t at York to pick up the prize. After watching Mustajeer grind out victory he said: “Fantastic performance. I’m off to cut the grass.”

His daughter Kerri was left to oversee Mustajeer’s final Ebor preparations.

She said: “He was trained for this race so the fact he’s pulled it off is brilliant. That doesn’t normally happen in racing.

“A large percentage of him has been bought by Australian Bloodstock so that’s his last run for us. It was a nice way for him to sign off.

“He’s going down to Australia to join Kris Lees. Hopefully, it will be the Caulfield Cup and then the Melbourne Cup. That would be a dream come true.

“I’m not an expert on Australian racing but he gets the trip and he’s already got good form.

“We knew he’d run well but you never know in these big handicaps what could happen.

“Everything just worked perfectly for him. He can get a bit worked up at the start but we managed to keep a lid on him this time.”

David Spratt, who still owns a chunk of Mustajeer, scooped a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two to the Melbourne Cup Carnival to watch his star take part in the $8million world-renowned race.

He said: “It’s a thrill, a huge thrill. It’s just unbelievable.

“We’ve always known he’s a proper horse.

“Fair play to Australian Bloodstock. He’s a six-year-old gelding and he needed to hit the target.

“They deserve all the success they get for taking the risk.

“We told them everything about the horse so I hope that gave them a little bit of confidence to buy into him.

“Hopefully, we can all be happy and win together.”

Sky Bet Ebor Heritage Handicap
£1,000,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 5f 188y, Class 2
22 ran
Going: Good to Firm

POS (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
17 (2)      Mustajeer 6 9-5 G M Lyons Colin Keane 16/1
12 (12) ¾ Red Galileo 8 9-6 Saeed bin Suroor Cieren Fallon 25/1
16 (15) ½ Desert Skyline 5 9-5 David Elsworth Gerald Mosse 25/1
6 (21) ¾ Raymond Tusk 4 9-8 Richard Hannon Jamie Spencer 16/1
18 (8) ½ Barsanti 7 9-4 Roger Varian Andrea Atzeni 25/1
11 (5) ½ True Self 6 9-7 W P Mullins Donnacha O'Brien 14/1
15 (2) 1¾ Ben Vrackie 4 9-5 John Gosden Frankie Dettori 8/1
8 (16) hd Prince Of Arran 6 9-7 Charlie Fellowes Stevie Donohoe 33/1
7 (9) 2 Raheen House 5 9-8 William Haggas James Doyle 5/1
10 (3) ½ Mekong 4 9-7 Sir Michael Stoute Ryan Moore 14/1
21 (1) 3¾ Cleonte 6 9-2 Andrew Balding Silvestre De Sousa 50/1
9 (10) 3 Max Dynamite 9 9-7 W P Mullins Ronan Whelan 33/1
1 (6) hd Withhold 6 9-10 Roger Charlton Jason Watson 10/1
3 (14) 1½ Red Verdon 6 9-9 Ed Dunlop Shane Foley 22/1
2 (13) 1¼ Wells Farhh Go 4 9-9 Tim Easterby David Allan 10/1
22 (7) 1¾ The Grand Visir 5 9-2 Ian Williams Jim Crowley 50/1
13 (18) 7 Baghdad 4 9-6 Mark Johnston P J McDonald 10/1
4 (19) 7 King's Advice 5 9-9 4ex Mark Johnston Joe Fanning 7/1
14 (24) 5 Kelly's Dino 6 9-6 4ex K R Burke Ben Curtis 25/1
5 (23) 10 Weekender 5 9-8 John Gosden Graham Lee 14/1
20 (4) PU Making Miracles 4 9-3 Mark Johnston Jason Hart 66/1
19 (11) PU Dramatic Queen 4 9-4 William Haggas Daniel Tudhope 20/1