44 losers in a row - but now Newmarket's newest partnership blast off cold list in style

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The new training partnership of Ismail Mohammed and Jose Santos finally got off the mark, after a nightmare spell of 44 losers stretching back nearly three months, when Beautiful Effort won the 5f fillies’ maiden at Southwell on Monday.

The Newmarket pair had been on the Racing Post cold list ever since joining forces in June, but their team had been laid low subsequently in what amounted to terrible timing.

The impressive pillar-to-post success of Beautiful Effort, who scored by three lengths under Silvestre de Sousa, could see a corner being turned at Grange House Stables on Hamilton Road, where the outfit has been rebranded as ‘Good Effort Racing’.  

Ismail Mohammed: joint-trainer for Good Effort RacingCredit: Debbie Burt

Santos said: “It’s taken a long time but thankfully that first winner has arrived and hopefully now we can get into the game properly. The string had been under a bit of a cloud, health-wise, for a while, but they appear to be fit and okay again. I’m sure more wins will come soon.”

On the breakthrough winner, he added: "Beautiful Effort has had five runs now so we’ll give her a break, as she’ll stay for the winter. She’s big; she’s not a two-year-old really. We’ll give her a holiday with a view to bringing her back in January or February.”

Santos is already planning for 2027 and was lunging some recently acquired yearlings on Tuesday morning.

He said: “We've six new ones here, who we bought in Doncaster, including a Blue Point colt who cost plenty of money at £250,000, we've some homebreds, and we'll be active at the October sales. We’ve got lots to look forward to.”

In June, the 58-year-old returned to the training ranks, eight years after he handed in his licence following a five-year spell in Lambourn.

In 2019, Santos was appointed assistant to Mohammed under the banner of the Dubai Racing Club, and they have enjoyed plenty of success, including with the classy sprinter Good Effort, whose name was behind the recent rebrand.

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