'I've never been so nervous!' - Dragon Leader calms jitters with comfortable and poignant Trophy win

Dragon Leader made the nerves worthwhile by scoring a poignant success in the £150,000 William Hill Two Year Old Trophy for Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds, whose founder Nick Robinson died last month.

The Goffs UK Harry Beeby Premier Yearling Stakes winner received weight from all bar two of the field, started 4-7 favourite and won by a ready three lengths under Richard Kingscote.

However, the syndicate's racing manager Sam Hoskins took nothing for granted and said: "I've never been so nervous! I'm just the manager, I don't know what all the members were thinking. The pressure is on when you're 4-7, but he's won about £300,000 in prize-money this season. It's incredible."

The Clive Cox-trained Dragon Leader, who was bought for £45,000 as a yearling, also finished second in the valuable sales race at Doncaster and Hoskins said: "We're very lucky to have him.

"Because he's by a cheaper sire in El Kabeir he gets quite well into these races. We've been lucky over the years with a few horses by less fashionable sires. Sir Busker is by Sir Prancealot and Tullius by Le Vie Dei Colori. We usually do better buying a nice individual by a cheaper sire."

Robinson died at the age of 87, and Hoskins added: "He was so good to us. He founded the syndicate in 1988 to try to win the inaugural Cartier Million sales race so it's kind of a full circle that this is a sales race.

"We were lucky to get involved about ten years ago and inherited a lot of syndicate members and nice horses. I owe him a lot."

David Allan finished second on Works Of Art, but went one better when getting Vafortino up close home in the Listed Guisborough Stakes.

"I kept getting stuck behind one but luckily they went a good gallop and I got there in time," the jockey said.

Happy ending for Storey

Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer Wilf Storey revealed he is set to be joined on the licence at his County Durham yard after making a triumphant return to the scene of another of his biggest successes.

Shifter led near the finish under Paula Muir to take the 1m2f handicap, over the same course and distance that Colway Ritz landed the Zetland Gold Cup for Storey in 1999.

"We've only got six horses in, which doesn't make it easy," said the trainer, 85, who won the Gold Card Hurdle Final at Cheltenham with Great Easeby in 1996. "We had one at Hexham yesterday who was running against a horse who cost £115,000.

Wilf Storey: "We've only got six horses in, which doesn't make it easy"Credit: David Carr

"My granddaughter Siobhan Doolan, who used to ride and led this horse up, has got one more module to sit then I'll put her name on the licence with mine and we'll be joint trainers – she does most of it now!"

Storey acclaimed a "brilliant" come-from-behind ride by Muir, who won her first race for the yard in 2017 and said: "Wilf and Siobhan have been great supporters of mine since I was a 7lb claimer."

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