Last-minute pouncing proves popular at Newmarket as Coroebus fans are robbed

If football were like racing, you would hear match reports like this: "Hibs were three up by half-time and looking good but inevitably paid for those early exertions and conceded four late goals to Stenhousemuir . . ." Efficient use of energy may not get much of a mention at Easter Road but it was the theme at Newmarket, as both the Royal Lodge and the Cheveley Park changed dramatically in the closing stages.

Backers of Coroebus are surely still trying to work out how they didn't get paid. The Godolphin runner was all class as he coasted through the first half of the Royal Lodge, and anyone who took better than 2-1 would have spent much of the race savouring that delicious feeling of having made an excellent decision that was obviously about to be justified.

But, as anyone who ever saw a spaghetti western knows, being first to go for your gun can end very badly. A mile is a long way for two-year-olds and they had barely gone past halfway when William Buick let Coroebus stride to the front, an aggressive move that had the horse's full support but which proved to be more Lee Van Cleef than Clint Eastwood.