Friday 19th June 2009
Captain stars on July Course return
Comeback king - Captain Brilliance defies lengthy lay-off to score on July Course
CAPTAIN Brilliance defied a 686 day lay-off to take tonight’s feature, the Invesco Perpetual handicap for in-form trainer Jeremy Noseda and jockey Adam Kirby.
Last seen winning his maiden here in August 2007 the son of Officer impressed as a nice sort in the paddock but looked as if he may be sharper for the run.
He was settled in the stand-side group by Kirby who just let his mount bowl along towards the rear.
When they entered the dip he began to creep closer and was soon on terms with the leaders. Despite hanging across the track inside the final furlong he stayed on strongly to score by two and a quarter lengths.
Noseda said of his 11-1 winner: “I’m thrilled for the horse and for his owners who have been rewarded for their patience.
“A lot of people have put in a lot of work and it is a very satisfying result - a good day.
“He is a possible for the Bunbury Cup but we’ll see how he comes out of this.”
The opening race on the card, the Newmarket Nights Apprentice handicap went the way of the Jeff Pearce-trained course specialist, Sonny Parkin in the hands of his son Simon.
On hand to greet the winner was Simon’s grand-mother Margaret Meadows who was celebrating her 93rd birthday today.
It was the seven-year-old’s fifth victory at the track and he did it today at odds of 11-2 by a head
Time Machine got his head in front at the fourth time of asking when bagging the newmarketracecourses.co.uk maiden for trainer John Gosden and jockey Robert Havlin.
The son of Halling, a 6-1 chance, tracked the leaders and just got up inside the final furlong to deny long-term leader Decision by three-quarters of a length.
Extreme Warrior sprang a 40/1 surprise in the Peri Up maiden for trainer David Lanigan and jockey Chris Catlin.
The son of Dubawi had improved a lot from his debut at Goodwood three weeks ago and looks a nice prospect for his connections.
The race was a messy affair but Catlin managed to keep his mount out of trouble and he stayed on gamely to win by two and a quarter lengths.
A delighted Lanigan said: “He did it very well and I’m not too surprised. We actually thought he would run well first time but he is a slightly slow learner.
“The blinkers just helped him focus better. He handles this ground but he’ll be nicer horse with a bit of cut.”
There was a close finish to the Sarah Wallis To Be handicap with the Brenden Powell trained- Edgeworth just getting up to deny Carbon Footprint in the shadow of the post.
Jockey George Baker timed his run to perfection and produced the 14-1 chance to score by three-quarters of a length.
The Dr John Scargill-trained Silent Applause gained his first win in 20 starts when taking the NGK Spark Plugs handicap under Kevin Shea.
The strapping son of Royal Applause, an 11-2 chance, got an easy lead and was able to dictate matters. He quickened the tempo 4f out and battled on to score by a length and three quarters.
The finale was the newmarketexperience.co.uk handicap which was won by Red Rosanna, second at Leicester a day earlier.
Racing resumes on the July Course tomorrow with the first race set for 2:10.
By Jackie Jarvis
