Saunders and Imphal get up late for fourth successive win

However far he progresses through the jockey ranks, apprentice Tyler Saunders will not be forgetting Imphal in a hurry, as he has struck up a terrific relationship with the three-year-old.

The Marcus Tregoning-trained gelding was a 58-rated maiden when Saunders first got to ride him at Bath in June, but four months on and Tyler has steered him to four successive handicap victories, including the two-miler here off 76.

After Saunders had got the gelding home from an unpromising position by a short head he said: "It was a bit tight for room when the horse on the inside drifted out as Imphal was coming through, but I don't think it was anything major.