'I thought we’d let her take her chance' - Charlie Johnston makes right call as Attila The Honey wins again

Charlie Johnston: pleased as Attila The Honey won again

Charlie Johnston: pleased he let Attila The Honey take her chanceCredit: Edward Whitaker

Charlie Johnston’s decision to leave Attila The Honey in the 1m3f handicap paid off after she stormed to a length success under Archie Young.

The Middleham-based trainer said he was close to not running his three-year-old because it would have been difficult to beat the hat-trick-chasing Road To Wembley.

Johnston said: "On Tuesday, Road To Wembley was entered at both Chelmsford and here, and I had our horse in both races. Richard [Hughes, trainer] declared his horse at Chelmsford and we didn’t want to take that on, so I declared Attila The Honey at Southwell.

"But because of this new rule where races get abandoned if there’s not four declarations, it means Richard declared his horse here and so did a couple of other people because only three were declared at Chelmsford.

"I wasn’t really intending to run her first thing this morning, but when there were three non-runners I thought we’d let her take her chance, and thankfully I did."

Attila The Honey finished clear of Path To Dubai, while odds-on shot Road To Wembley, owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, had to settle for third.

Johnston added: "It was her fifth start and she’s been a bit of a slow learner. She was still a little bit green under pressure but she did it nicely."

Off the mark

The Mick Appleby-trained Winchurch made a winning debut when defeating Sonic Si by a length in the 5f novice. The trainer, who enjoyed a career-best campaign last year in terms of prize-money, moved on to 30 winners for 2024.

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