Move over Roy Rocket: Esspeegee comes alive to keep perfect Brighton record

They came to hail Roy Rocket as Brighton's winningmost horse but left talking about Esspeegee after the Alan Bailey-trained six-year-old took his course record to four wins from four visits with the popular grey languishing in seventh.

Darragh Keenan, riding his 50th career winner to have his claim cut to 3lb, told Sky Sports: "He just comes alive here – he wasn't himself the last two times and was a different horse today."

Bailey swapped recent cheekpieces for a first-time visor and Keenan added: "He worked in the visor two weeks ago and was a different horse with them on.