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Thunder surprises Doncaster rivals to delight Hannon

3 minute read

Group race options for maiden winner.

Trainer : Richard Hannon Picture: Pat Healy Photography

Thunder Max  gave Richard Hannon a pleasant surprise when making a winning debut in the Coopers Marquees Maiden Stakes at Doncaster.

By the trainer's 2014 2000 Guineas hero Night Of Thunder, Thunder Max (16-1) knuckled down for Rossa Ryan to outpoint the more experienced Leuven Power by a neck. Unilateralism was a neck away in third place.

"He's always been a lovely colt and he was coming here for a run. He's not shown anything at home but quite often the nice horses do that," said Hannon.

"He's wanted the trip and he'll improve massively. I'm very happy.

"There are some lovely races in the autumn – there's the Autumn Stakes, the Horris Hill. I'm just delighted he's done that. I'd hoped he'd be a nice horse but I didn't know. He's not a flashy horse at home, but he's by Night Of Thunder and anything is possible by that stallion."

Champion jockey Oisin Murphy reached 150 domestic winners for the calendar year with victory on Able Kane (9-2) in the Cazoo Handicap.

Rod Millman's four-year-old withstood the challenges of Raatea and Chairmanoftheboard to land the six-and-a-half furlong prize by half a length and a neck.

Murphy said: "It was my idea to take the headgear off. I thought he might have gone a bit stale with the visor and it was worth a try.

"He really enjoyed that. He bowled along and found loads under pressure.

"The rain took the sting out of the ground and he appreciated that."

Rhythmic Intent (6-1) won for the first time in 13 months with a convincing display in the racehorselotto.com Mallard Handicap.

Hollie Doyle always had the Stuart Williams-trained five-year-old in a good position and sent him on to score by a length and three-quarters from HMS President.

Williams admitted the heavy rain just before the race helped Rhythmic Intent's cause.

"The rain suited him well. He went through the race nicely and the way the race went, you felt it was going well," said the Newmarket handler.

"It's been a frustrating season but he ran really well at York last time. We might come back here for the November Handicap."

Promising apprentice Adam Farragher enjoyed a smooth success on the William Haggas-trained Sea La Rosa (2-1) in the British EBF Premier Fillies' Handicap.

Leading over a furlong out, Sea La Rosa triumphed by three-quarters of a length from Viola.