Heartbreak City lands historic win under apprentice McNamara

Last month’s Galway festival scorer Heartbreak City made history on the Knavesmire by becoming the first horse since the great Sea Pigeon in 1979 allotted more than 9st 4lb to triumph in Europe’s richest Flat handicap on a memorable day for promising apprentice Adam McNamara.

Less than a month on from trainer Tony Martin and his legal team grappling in the High Court over Pyromaniac’s participation in the Galway Hurdle, the County Meath trainer was celebrating a first and third in this £280,000 contest, with Quick Jack also finishing in the frame.

Twenty runners rated within 11lb from top to bottom should have guaranteed a close-run affair but it was quite the opposite. No fewer than 19 jockeys were driving their mounts for all their worth with a furlong to run - and then there was McNamara.