Apprentice Louis Steward and Johnny Murtagh get the ice bucket challenge! (Dan Abrahams/racingfotos.com)
An ice bucket challenge was part of the reward for both Johnny Murtagh and Louis Steward after the Ebor Handicap here on Saturday, but winning the £165,000 first prize was rich compensation for both trainer and jockey as Mutual Regard secured victory in Europe’s richest Flat handicap.
Both men are at an early stage of their respective careers, though Murtagh was, of course, one of the finest jockeys in the business for two decades, and continued to ride with much success until the end of last season, when he decided to devote himself full-time to his burgeoning career as a trainer.
Steward, meanwhile, is worth every ounce of his 5lb claim in a race as competitive as the Ebor, and if there was any pressure going to post to ride for one of the weighing room’s all-time greats, it did not show once the stalls opened.
Steward was close to the pace through the first mile and a half, and sent Mutual Regard for home approaching the two-furlong pole. Van Percy and Elidor, who was briefly stopped in his run when travelling well, both set off in pursuit, but could not run him down as he stayed on to win by a length and a quarter.
Pallasator, the 9-2 favourite, could finish only fourth after turning for home with only a couple of rivals behind him, but Sir Mark Prescott, his trainer, was among the first to congratulate Murtagh in the winner’s enclosure, all too aware that Mutual Regard had been a resident of his Newmarket stable earlier in his career.
Prescott would not normally be a trainer to let an Ebor winner slip through his fingers, but Mutual Regard has found improvement since arriving in Murtagh’s yard, further advertising the skills of a handler whose transition from jockey to trainer has been seamless.
“I couldn’t win it as a jockey, I was second a lot of times,” Murtagh said. “He was going well at home before we ran him at The Curragh [earlier in the season] but he really surprised us when he got there.
Johnny Murtagh trained the winner
“He got 10lb [in the weights] for winning, and then we went to Leopardstown with the Ebor in mind and he ran very well behind Pale Mimosa. We thought a mile and six and a fast pace would really suit him. Ross [Coakley] was due to ride him but he got suspended, and so Andrew [Tinkler, Mutual Regard’s owner] suggested Louis Steward. We got him and fair play, he gave him a lovely ride today.”
Murtagh has enjoyed several valuable successes as a trainer already and his latest six-figure prize only confirmed his self-belief.
“I’ve no doubts that I can do the job,” Murtagh said. “I believed I would be good at it and horses like this re-confirm it. I’ve noticed that all the best trainers don’t doubt themselves and I knew coming here today that this horse was ready to run a mile and six to the best of his ability.”
Muhaarar increased Hamdan al-Maktoum’s options for the major autumn juvenile events with a narrow success in the Group Two Gimcrack Stakes.
Three horses crossed the line almost as one, but Paul Hanagan managed to find a crucial final effort from Muhaarar to get home by a nose from Jungle Cat.
“He knuckled down well,” Hanagan said. “He really put his head down for me and is really genuine.
“It’s good to get a winner. I had my heart broken on Thursday [when Taghrooda, the Oaks and King George winner, lost her unbeaten record in the Yorkshire Oaks] but as long as she is safe and sound, that’s the main thing.”
Jamie Spencer, who announced his retirement from race-riding earlier this week, secured a final win at the Ebor meeting when Mind Of Madness came home narrowly in front in the Listed Roses Stakes. Spencer punched the air as if it had been a Group One winner, but left the course without comment after the race.
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