Marco Ghiani keeps his name in lights at Lingfield

Ashley Iveson
January 5, 2021 4:57 pm

Hot streak continues for in-form apprentice.

Red-hot apprentice Marco Ghiani continued his sensational run of form with a double at Lingfield on Tuesday.

Since booting home two winners at Southwell on New Year’s Day, the Italian-born jockey had added further successes at Wolverhampton and Lingfield to take his recent record to five winners from his last seven rides ahead of his return to the Surrey circuit.

The 5lb claimer kept the run going with victory aboard the Amy Murphy-trained Jennivere in the Get Your Ladbrokes Daily Odds Boost Handicap, with the 100-30 chance clinging on by a short head from Nozieres.

Murphy said: “She’s a tough little filly and she deserved that as she probably should have won the last day – she just ran out of time.

“She’s a home-bred, so it’s great to get a second win on the board for her.

“Marco is riding out of his skin and is definitely a jockey to follow.”

An hour later, Ghiani successfully combined with boss Stuart Williams as Passional completed her hat-trick in fine style in the Heed Your Hunch At Betway Handicap.

⭐🏆WINNER🏆⭐ Our little golden nugget Jennivere has done it again for @Jamjam0288 under @linusghiani99 @LingfieldPark well done everybody 📸 @nikidoog 🏇💨💨 pic.twitter.com/LcHuD6PTuU
— Amy Murphy Racing (@almracing) January 5, 2021

Bought for just 5,500 guineas out of Simon and Ed Crisford’s yard in October, the daughter of Footstepsinthesand was placed on her first two starts for Williams, before bolting up at Southwell last month.

Having followed up at Wolverhampton on Saturday, Passional was the 8-15 favourite under a 5lb penalty and quickened up smartly to score by a length and a half.

Williams, saddling a fifth winner from his last five runners, said: “I think she was a bit unlucky in a few of her races for Simon and our family actually bred her, so we always kept an eye on her progress.

“When she went to the sales we said we’d try to buy her back and see if we could win a couple of races with her. It’s worked out well.”

Passional (centre) charges home at Lingfield (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

On Ghiani, the Newmarket handler added: “He’s doing really well. He had a really good year two years ago and I didn’t want him to ride his claim out through the winter, so I sent him over to Brendan Walsh in America, just to ride trackwork for three or four months.

“He came back just before the start of the season here last year and obviously we went straight into lockdown. He ended up not riding for about seven months and lost all the contacts that he’d built up the year before, so in hindsight, it was the wrong thing to do.

“It’s just taken him a while to build his contacts back up again. My horses weren’t in spectacular form after the lockdown either, so little things like that conspired against him.

“Now we’re in better form, Marco has been around for a bit longer and is getting more rides off other people and it’s all come together.”

Elsewhere on the card, the Roger Varian-trained La Tihaty (10-11 favourite) went one better than when runner-up on his course and distance debut with an emphatic victory in the Ladbrokes Watch Racing Online For Free Novice Stakes.