Millman family do it again as £3,000 yearling Bettys Hope bags Super Sprint
Bettys Hope, who cost £3,000 as a yearling, gave the Millman family a second fairytale win at odds of 14-1 in the Weatherbys Super Sprint when denying the Richard Fahey-trained trio of Show Me Show Me, Mighty Spirit and favourite Ventura Rebel.
Rod Millman had won this race back in 1997 with Lord Kintyre, owned by Malcolm Calvert and ridden by Brett Doyle, but this was a family success with the trainer's wife Louise owning her and Silvestre de Sousa riding.
The Devon trainer said: "It was a bit nerve-racking to see her stand up in the stalls and now I've now got a sore throat from shouting as well.
"We won the Super Sprint many years ago with Lord Kintyre, and we won some big races with Sergeant Cecil, but as we own this horse my percentage will be like training a £1 million race winner!"
It all came right for the champion jockey after a worrying moment in the stalls as the 24 runners took time to load for the 5f race worth £122,925 to the winner.
De Sousa said: "She was a bit messy in the gates but came back down. She's only small but is very tough and did it well in the end."
The rider stuck to the stands' side from his high draw and virtually raced alone in the final furlong as Bettys Hope ran down 33-1 outsider Show Me Show Me in the centre to win by a head.
Fahey's better fancied runners Mighty Spirit (6-1) and 5-4 favourite Ventura Rebel were a length and a quarter and half a length behind in third and fourth respectively.
Millman completed a double on the day after Sufficient stayed on strongly to deny Pure Shores in another photo-finish in the mile handicap for fillies.
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Published on 20 July 2019inReports
Last updated 16:52, 20 July 2019
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