Mark Of The Man victory means plenty to Hannon

Poignant triumph for Levey-ridden two-year-old.

Mark Of The Man continued his climb through the ranks to secure a poignant success in the Gusbourne Nursery Handicap at Goodwood.

Having opened his account at Chepstow, the Richard Hannon-trained Markaz colt, who was running in the silks of the late Jennifer Powell, took another step forward with a ready success in the seven-furlong prize.

Tracking the leaders for much of the race, the 12-1 shot picked up well under Sean Levey before pulling smartly clear in the closing stages to defeat Monza City by two lengths.

Hannon said: “He has picked up with every run. He didn’t look like a lot when he first ran a Lingfield, but that has been indicative of a lot of two-year-olds this year.

“He belongs to Christopher Powell, his wife Jennifer died about six months ago so it’s a really important tonic for him and his family. They have been good supporters of me and dad over the years and this will mean a lot to them.

“They always came here, they couldn’t be here today but they will be loving it at home.”

While plans remain fluid for Mark Of The Man, the Marlborough handler believes he could turn out to be even better when stepping up in trip.

He added: “There is more to come from him and he will get a mile as well. He is a very nice horse. He is in a few of the nice sales races towards the end of the year.

“The main thing it is lovely for them as they are racing fans through and through. It is nice to train a winner for them at a nice meeting.”

The stands may have been virtually empty, but that failed to stop Mike Spence and members of the Mps Racing syndicate from raising the roof after the Nigel Tinkler-trained Acklam Express made light work of his rivals in the Tatler Nursery.

Spence said of the 100-30 winner: “It was good to get that done. We only purchased the horse last week as we liked the form and the figure he did at Hamilton, so we got him. I don’t think any of us backed him as the big bet was buying the horse.

“His time last time out was phenomenal and we saw he got a mark of 77 so we thought we could have a bit of fun with that. Hopefully he can be a Group horse in time.”

Spirit Of Bermuda (8-1) appeared to need every inch of the seven-furlong trip before making a triumphant debut in the British European Breeders Fund EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes.

Winning trainer William Haggas said: “She won nicely, but I hoped she would run well. She was from the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up sale so she is a filly that we have not had that long.

“She has got a lovely temperament and lovely big, raking stride. She needed every inch of the seven furlongs and she will be better going up in trip, but she could not have made a nicer start and Tom (Marquand) gave her a nice ride.

“She has got lots of scope going forwards.”

Glamorous Anna provided trainer Christopher Mason with his first Glorious Goodwood winner with victory in the Mirabeau En Provence Handicap.

Successful at Windsor last time out and sent off at 9-1, the three-year-old filly – who is partially-sighted in her right eye – got the better of Newyorkstateofmind by a length and a half in the hands of William Cox.

Mason – who has just 10 horses in training – said: “I was hoping she would run a good race. She only just hung on at Windsor. She was hanging one way then the other way. I think would have finished further in front at Windsor had she stayed straight.

“We changed the mouth gear and put the cheekpieces on and just little tweaks here and there to keep her straight really.

“She has got so much natural early speed. She has got one kick and if she can take enough out of them with that one kick she can take a bit of catching.”

He added: “I’m very delighted and there will be a long celebration tonight.”

Junkanoo gave his owners Trevor Jacobs and Julian Harley plenty to shout about when springing a 50-1 surprise in the Unibet You’re On Handicap.

Having finished ninth on his debut at this meeting 12 months ago, the Gary Moore-trained three-year-old struck gold at the sixth time of asking in the mile-and-a-quarter contest.

Working his way through rivals, David Egan’s mount finished strongly to deny the hat-trick-seeking Zabeel Champion by three-quarters of a length.

Jacobs said: “It is fantastic. I’m over the moon. He has been running against some good horses and we knew he had it in him. He was fourth behind Palace Pier and he also finished behind Persuasion here last year, so it is not a total surprise.

“It is just nice to be back on track (as an owner) and to have a Glorious Goodwood winner is great. It would have been great if there were people here, but it doesn’t matter. You have got to shout them home when the opportunity comes, as it doesn’t happen very often.

“He was 50-1 yesterday and when he went to 100-1 I had GBP 15 each-way, and I also had a bit each-way at 50s and 20s so we have done well out of that as well.”

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