Pat Morris heaps praise on son after Hot Team ends long stable drought

Wednesday: Newcastle

Trainer Pat Morris gave all the credit to his 18-year-old son Conor for the role he played as Hot Team ended a long drought for the stable.

Merseyside-based Morris registered his first success of the campaign when the 4-1 shot took care of eight rivals in the 1m2f apprentice handicap under Connor Planas.

“Conor did all the work on this horse and I’m delighted for him as he is heading off to university soon,” said the trainer.

“It was the horse’s first win on the all-weather after being unplaced in all ten of his previous attempts on an artificial surface, but the key to the win is probably that he’s well handicapped now.

“We do not have many horses – only about ten to run – as our main focus is on pre-training, but it’s always good to have a winner or two.

“We did not have our first win until around this time last year and then several more followed, so I’m hoping something similar will happen this time. Certainly we have a few to run in the coming weeks.”

Camacho at the treble

Hougoumont looked a promising youngster after a narrow defeat by Gimcrack contender Lakota Blue on his debut and he had to work harder than expected for a short-head success under Paul Mulrennan in the 6f novice stakes.

“I’m not sure he was helped by the draw, so he’s done well to win from where he raced,” said trainer Julie Camacho, who went on to complete a treble with the victories of Northbound, also ridden by Mulrennan, and Roshambo in the last two races.

Rocket blasts to hat-trick

Rocket Rod completed a hat-trick in fine style in the first division of the 7f handicap and his trainer Geoff Harker said: “He just seems more chilled out now and it'll be interesting to see what the handicapper does.”

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