Rejuvenated Hodgson hails yard's flying form and the power of a good 'back man'
Simon Hodgson welcomed back his tenth winner since his return to the training ranks last July, as Total Commitment scored under Joey Haynes.
A 200,000 guineas purchase out of Roger Charlton's yard back in 2019, Total Commitment was Hodgson's fourth winner from eight runners on the Flat since the turn of the year.
"He had a bit of a problem which was just stopping him finishing off his races but we couldn't find anything," said Hodgson. "I have a brilliant 'back man', Gerry Gracie, who found his shoulder was just slightly out and six weeks after his treatment, the horse went and won at Kempton.
"He comes in four days before a race now just to give him a once over and he's not run a bad race since, he's been absolutely super."
Cardano too good
Cardano was given a typically no-nonsense ride from Richard Kingscote to land the opening 1m4f handicap backing up his course success at the start of January.
Cardano looked in danger of being swamped approaching the two furlong market but responded well to Kingscote's urgings and pulled out plenty more on levelling up.
Smart Silent Film
The Charlie Appleby-trained Silent Film briefly had to be ridden along from a wide draw but ultimately made light work of his rivals in the three-year-old novice stakes under Adam Kirby.
In getting off the mark at the second attempt the gelded son of New Approach paid a compliment to stablemate Highland Avenue, who was five and a half lengths too good for him at Kempton last month.
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Published on 20 February 2021inReports
Last updated 17:45, 20 February 2021
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- Champion trainer Willie Mullins wins the bet365 Gold Cup with Minella Cocooner
- Celebration Chase: Jonbon dominates Grade 1 feature to maintain perfect record at Sandown
- Leicester: Eve Johnson Houghton boosts juvenile strike-rate to 44 per cent with her fourth debut winner
- Cork: 'Hopefully she can progress a bit further this season' - Thunder Roll strikes in the Noblesse for Joseph O'Brien
- Perth: 'The further he goes, the better he goes' - Bretney makes all to land the Highland National