Mobsta lands first leg of Sky Bet Sprint summer series for in-form Channon

Summer did not spring to mind at the soggy Thameside track which had to pass a morning inspection as Mobsta revelled in the mud to take the first race in the Sky Bet Summer Sprint Series that climaxes in a £75,000 final in August.

But trainer Mick Channon was not complaining as his six-year-old is in his element in these conditions with three soft-ground wins and his Group 2 Greenlands win coming on yielding to soft conditions two years ago since when Mobsta has gone winless.

Silvestre de Sousa again demonstrated why he will be hard to dethrone as champion jockey in getting Mobsta a neck past Glory Of Paris as a middle leg of a treble on the day.