Mubtaker rolls back the years at Newbury

Newbury specialist Mubtaker rewarded his loyal followers with a rare long-odds success in the opening contest at Newbury.

The Marcus Tregoning-trained nine-year-old was easy to back before the Dubai Tennis Championships John Porter Stakes, but belied his odds of 9-1 to spearhead a one-two-three for owner Hamdan Al Maktoum.

Martin Dwyer, riding a first winner in his new position as number two rider for Sheikh Hamdan, always had the leader in a good spot settled just behind the pace.

And when he struck for home over two furlongs out a sixth course success looked assured as he galloped clear.

But as tiredness began to tell on his seasonal debut, Munsef and Maraahel threw down their challenges and it was a relief to supporters of the winner when the post came in time for a neck verdict.

“He will go for the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket now,” said Tregoning. “I used to think about finding him a place at a small stud somewhere but now I don’t want to let him go!

“I can only work him on his own at home so it’s hard to tell exactly where you are with him, but I hoped he was well enough to run a nice race today. I can’t work him with the three-year-olds because he’d drag the guts out of them.

“Martin came and had a sit on him yesterday and they seemed to get on well enough. Don’t forget that he has never been over-raced and he still loves life as much as ever.

“It’s just wonderful to see him do it again and he loves this place.”