Ripon Saturday

TRAINER Kevin Ryan registered his first ever win in the William Hill Great St Wilfrid at Ripon on Saturday with Justanotherbottle.

Ryan, who made his name earlier in his career by winning big sprint handicaps like the Ayr Gold Cup, had surprisingly failed to land the biggest race of the season at one of his local tracks.

The Hambleton handler reached for the blinkers for the first time for the seven-year-old, and they clearly worked the oracle after a few recent below-par runs.

A winner of the Catterick Dash off 96 last season, his marked had dropped to 92 after six winless runs this season and he barely saw another rival.

Drawn near the rail, his case was helped when habitual front-runner Abate stumbled coming out of the stalls.

That allowed Kevin Stott to grab the rail on the 18/1 chance and from there he could control the race, kicking clear with a furlong to run.

The favourite Lampang, one of six runners for Tim Easterby, and stablemate and last year’s winner Staxton led the pursuit on the far side – but Justanotherbottle was always in command.

Stott was able to ease off close home and he came a length and a half clear of Golden Apollo, another Easterby runner, with Gale Force Maya and Intrinsic Bond taking minor honours.

Ryan was absent at a wedding, but Stott said: “He’s come down the handicap a bit, but he’s a little bit older and wiser now. He had blinkers on for the first time and this shows he’s still got it.

“I think the blinkers were a big part of it, given he’s older and wiser, so he needed a bit of help. But he’s shown he’s still got plenty of ability. He jumped really well and we had a good draw anyway, sometimes the first-time blinkers give them a bit of a shock and they really travel and he’s done that today.”

He went on: “Inside the two-furlong pole I was still on the bridle and these sprinters, when on song, they are very fast and he’s shown plenty of speed today.

“We’ll have a word with connections to see where he goes and I’m delighted for Mr (Steve) Ryan who is a big supporter of mine.” Steve Ryan, who owns the winner in partnership with Martin Tedham, said: “He was a very cheap horse when I bought him and he’s been an absolute hero.”