Paver shoots to cup glory

Noel Wilson attributed Pavershooz’s victory in the Piramal Healthcare Gosforth Park Cup at Newcastle to a rather unusual “lucky omen”.

Wilson’s four-year-old made all the running – but it looked as though Buachaill Dona and Hamish McGonagall, first and second in the race last year, were going to get the better of him.

However, the 12-1 chance kept pulling out more for Duran Fentiman, who held them at bay by a neck and half a length respectively.

Wilson said: “A bird deposited on my head earlier on and I did not dare wipe it off before the race, so it was a lucky omen after all!

“He only went up 4lb for winning at Musselburgh, so we were over the moon.

“As a result of that, we thought we may as well have a go at a decent race, rather than go for a lesser one.

“I was a bit worried about the ground, but I walked the track with the clerk of the course (James Armstrong) and he said there was a good strip down the middle.

“Although Duran couldn’t get there straight away, it worked out all right in the end.

“I think he gets six furlongs, so Ayr Gold Cup here we come.”

David Nicholls said of Buachaill Dona: “He has run another great race.

“I wasn’t worried about the ground and I thought he was going to get there.”

Fentiman was suspended one day (July 11) for using his whip with excessive frequency on Pavershooz.

Those who braved the desperate conditions were treated to a fine ride from star apprentice Frederik Tylicki on High Ambition in the KB Sheet Metal & GDBS Handicap.

It looked one furlong out as if an enterprising piece of riding from Andrew Elliott on Society Venue had sealed the deal, but the Richard Fahey-trained High Ambition (9-2) would not be denied and got up in the last strides to win by a head.

Fahey said: “He took an age to get past the second, but he got there in the end. Mind you, Freddie said he was always going to get there.

“He had a little bit of a problem when we got him but that has been sorted and it is nice to see him winning for his owner, George Leatham.

“He settled well and got the trip well.”

Brian Ellison, who was born near the course, saddled a 1-2 when Rosko (5-1) got up inside the last 25 yards of the Deloitte National Handicap to beat stablemate My Mate Mal by three-quarters of a lengths.