'It's my biggest surprise in racing in 40 years' - 100-1 York winner stuns owner

It was just as well there were no punters present – Mr Carpenter had the absent bookmakers cursing their luck by springing a 100-1 shock on Thursday as racing resumed at York behind closed doors.

Bought for just 15,000gns at the Tattersalls horses in training sale last autumn, the four-year-old was stepping up markedly in trip in the 1m4f handicap on his first run for Tim Easterby.

Yet he saw the distance out well under Cam Hardie and held on by a neck from Sweet Celebration to score a success that would have silenced a packed Knavesmire.