'It's amazing' - winning owner toasts his luck after being hit by bird poo

Monday: Newton Abbot

An incident involving bird poo prior to the 2m1f handicap hurdle left one owner feeling extra lucky as Fire Lake scored for Milton Harris.

Anwar Badri, who owns the five-year-old, was struck on the arm by falling bird droppings and joked it brought the daughter of Mustajeeb the luck to record a second win in a row.

"I don’t think I've heard about that happening before," Badri said about the incident. "It’s amazing and I think somebody is smiling at me from above."

Having been involved with Highclere Thoroughbreds for 12 years, Badri explained how he came across Harris when he wanted to go into ownership by himself.

"I bumped into Milton in a boutique shop in Bath, which is where I stay when I come from Dubai," he said.

"He is a top trainer and you can’t believe how grateful I am to have bumped into him in town by chance. He is a believer and compliments go to the full team he has and you can only appreciate that because his stable is fantastic."

When asked why he left the racing syndicate, he said: "It was always a dream to get involved in racing and respect should go to Highclere because they do fantastic things, but there are like 20 people in a syndicate whereas here you’re on your own.

"It has really refreshed my mind with the investment that goes into racing too."

Drought ended

The Jamie Snowden-trained Bucko’s Boy was in the winner's enclosure for the first time in 14 months after he landed the 2m2½f handicap hurdle under Page Fuller.

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