Spirit a fitting winner as Conrad Allen remembers legendary Mick Ryan

Wednesday: Lingfield

Newmarket trainer Conrad Allen dedicated Mick's Spirit's win in the 5f handicap to legendary trainer Mick Ryan, who died in January.

The four-year-old was an appropriately named winner under Grace McEntee with Allen explaining: "I was with Mick a long time ago. I was an apprentice to him and I rode out for him.

"When I started training he was always there offering advice and I was at his funeral last week and I thought it would be fitting for him considering the name of the horse."

Allen, who enjoyed his best season since 2004 last year, has begun 2022 in similar fettle with just one of his 16 runners on the Flat finishing outside of the first four.

Reflecting on his fine form Allen, whose love affair with Lingfield began when he became the first trainer to win on the all-weather in Britain with Niklas Angel in 1989, added: "They're running great and I couldn’t be happier.

"I have better horses now and I haven’t got many, but the ones I have seem to be decent. We've got five two-year-olds, which is odd because I don’t often get sent them, and we’ll probably go to the breeze-up sales."

Double for Rhys

Rhys Clutterbuck bookended the card as he guided the Doonbeg Farmer to victory in the opening 1m2f handicap, the first time he had partnered the James Evans-trained four-year-old.

He then completed a 31-1 double by steering Gary Moore’s Capricorn Prince to a third win in 2022 from just four starts in the closing 1m5f handicap.

Results, replays and analysis

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