Welcome win for Cecil
Henry Cecil earned a cheer from his loyal followers when sending out Focus Group to take the opening event at a rainy Newmarket.
Cecil has sent out plenty of scorers at his local track over the years, but these days winner are harder to come by for the master of Warren Place and it was a relieved man who welcomed the 16-1 winner home.
Jimmy Quinn’s mount led just inside the final furlong before getting the better of a battle with Notnowcato by a neck for the Woodford Reserve Handicap.
“He has had terrible problems with the stalls and he has needed a lot of time,” said Cecil of the winner, who was having only his second career start having been off the course for more than a year.
“At lunch everyone was asking me whether he was going to win and I told them all not to back him, so there were some long faces around me as he went into the lead.
“He’s in the sales at the end of the season so we’ll have to see what Prince Khalid (Abdullah) wants to do.”
Munsef was the next winner to defy a lengthy absence from the track as he completed a hat-trick of victories when taking the Fishpools Furnishings Godolphin Stakes.
The winner of the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot at York on his latest start, the John Dunlop-trained son of Zafonic came back jarred up from that start with Dunlop blaming the “very suspect ground”.
But he has clearly suffered no ill-effects from his three-month spell on the sidelines and made steady headway from the three-furlong pole to lead inside the final furlong and claim the Listed prize by a length and a quarter from Defining.
Favourite Into The Dark led until the final quarter-mile but faded close home to finish fifth, beaten some 10 lengths by the winner.
Dunlop admitted to being surprised at the success of the 8-1 winner, who might not have been expected to handle the soft conditions underfoot as a son of fast-ground performer Zafonic.
“We have only just managed to get him back for today and I was expecting him to need it today because he was very sore after Ascot and we had to give him a good rest,” he said.
“Richard (Hills) said he appreciated getting his toe in and he is a very progressive horse.”
