Panther pounces for tearful Owen
Sent off the 4-1 joint-favourite, the home-bred scooted clear under Richard Kingscote to give the jockey and trainer, Tom Dascombe, their second winner of the week following Rhythm Of Light in the Sandringham 24 hours earlier.
There were plenty of hard-luck stories on the home bend, no more so than the runner-up Census but the sixth-length winning margin could, in truth, have been a lot more.
“It’s a bit different owning a horse to win at Ascot to breeding one,” said Manchester United striker Owen.
“This is a different horse to what we’ve had so far. It doesn’t get any better – this is where you want to end up.”
Owen continued: “I bought Manor House about five years ago and Tom moved in about two years ago.
“Tom used Richard down south and he brought him in, and you can see why.
“We’ve gone from just a few horses to training over 100 and Richard is integral to the team, you could see that with the winner yesterday.
“It was a time for patience last year and that patience has paid off and we are reaping the rewards this year.
“I’m delighted for Tom. Everyone knows he can train, and now we are getting the rewards.
“The thing with racing is there’s nothing I can do about it.
“When I play football I don’t get nervous because I can do something about it. With racing you are in the lap of the gods.
“I don’t deserve any credit. Obviously I’ve invested a lot of money, but it’s all down to Tom, Richard and the staff – I’m just the owner, but I’m delighted to have such a nice horse.
“There’s not many better feelings than this.”
