The Observer - 25.08.2019

• The Observer
  18 25.08.19 Rugby union

World Cup warm-up

Racing

The bookies had the better of the
fi rst £1m handicap to be run on the
Flat in Britain as Mustajeer, at 16-1,
led home a 1-2-3-4 for horses at
double-fi gure odds in the SkyBet
Ebor here. The happiest gamblers,
in fact, were probably the Australian
syndicate that recently agreed a deal
to buy Mustajeer after his run on the
Knavesmire and now have a horse
with a guaranteed place in the fi eld
for November’s Melbourne Cup.
Mustajeer will head to the

southern hemisphere leaving his

former owners at Ger Lyons’s Irish

stable £600,000 better off, thanks to

what was ultimately a comfortable

success from stall two – only the

second win for a runner from a

single-fi gure draw in the last 11

years.

Colin Keane got away from the

stalls well and settled towards the

front of the fi eld as Ben Vrackie

and Frankie Dettori set a good

gallop. Mustajeer then moved up to

challenge after passing the three-

furlong pole and was in front with

a quarter of a mile to run. The six-

year-old, who was beaten less than a

length at Group Three level earlier in

the season, never looked likely to be

caught from there.

Red Galileo fi nished second for

the leading apprentice Cieren Fallon,

son of the former champion jockey

Kieren , while Desert Skyline and

Raymond Tusk also made the frame.

Raheen House, heavily backed all

day to start favourite at 5-1, was only

9th.

“That’s his last race for us,”

Kerri Lyons, her father’s assistant

trainer, said. “He’s been sold to

go to Australia but David [Spratt,

Mustajeer’s former owner] still

owns a share. Hopefully it will be

the Caulfi eld Cup and then the

Melbourne Cup.

“That will be a dream come true

and he’ll do well for the new owners

[Australian Bloodstock]. Everything

went to plan and credit goes to

David and my dad, because David

buys these horses at the horses-

in-training sale and he has a great

record with them.

“I think that’s only his third win

for us but he has been placed in

quite a few races and it all came

through today. We knew he would

run well but you never know in

these big handicaps what will

happen and everything worked

perfectly. He can get quite worked

up at the start, so he went only once

around the parade ring and we

managed to keep a lid on him until

he got to the start.”

Ger Lyons, who watched from

his stable in County Meath, will

receive nearly £50,000 as his share

of the Ebor’s record prize fund but

was apparently quite nonchalant

about the outcome. “Fantastic

performance by ctkjockey &

Mustajeer and my team winning the

Ebor,” Lyons said on Twitter shortly

afterwards. “Now I’m off out to cut

the grass.”

Mustajeer is quoted at 16-1 by

Paddy Power for the Melbourne Cup

at Flemington Park on 5 November.

At Goodwood Rossa Ryan

recorded the fi rst Group Two

success of his career at the fi rst

attempt as his mount Duke Of

Hazzard stayed on strongly to win

the Celebration Mile.

Ryan, who is in his fi rst season

without a claim , was replacing

PJ McDonald, who was aboard Duke

Of Hazzard when the colt took a

Group Three over the same course

and distance earlier in the month.

Ryan rode a well-judged race to

lead well inside the fi nal furlong

before holding off the late charge of

Turgenev.

“I didn’t sleep very well last night,”

Ryan said. “I spent all night on my

tablet going through all the form

and working out how the race would

pan out. When PJ had commitments

at York, it meant a lot to me to be

given the chance riding a horse of

such high profi le.”

Lyons wins

£1m race

then gets out

the mower

Greg Wood
York

Greg Wood’s tips

GOODWOOD 2.00 Hashtagmetoo

2.30 Queen’s Soldier 3.00 Great Example

(nap) 3.35 Luna Magic 4.10 Momkin (nb)

4.45 Alemagna 5.20 Zac Brown

5.50 Ascot Day

BEVERLEY 2.10 Rousayan 2.40 Yoshimi

3.15 Harry Love 3.50 Metronomic

4.25 Dutch Coed 5.00 One To Go

5.30 Blyton Lass 6.00 Burtonwood

YARMOUTH 2.20 Sudona 2.50 Elector

3.25 Charming Spirit 4.00 Fre d 4.35 Solid

Stone 5.10 Light And Dark 5.40 Global Hope

Colin Keane on the Irish-trained

Mustajeer wins the Ebor Handicap

Blow for Skinner

takes shine off

Scotland turning

tables on France

 Sean Maitland makes a break

at Murrayfi eld during Scotland’s

comeback victory against Franc

IAN RUTHERFORD/PA

A week after being obliterated in Nice,
Scotland turned the tables on France
to end a run of fi ve Tests without a
win and bolster their World Cup prep-
arations with a comeback victory at
Murrayfi eld.
Down 14-3 after 27 minutes after
two tries from France wing Damian
Penaud, converted scores from Sean
Maitland and Chris Harris either side
of the interval put Gregor Townsend’s
side into a lead they held onto tena-
ciously in a scoreless fi nal quarter.
The warm glow of a raucously-
received victory was offset by injury
concerns over the lock Sam Skinner,
No  8 Blade Thomson and winger
Tommy Seymour.
Skinner, whose ability to also play
at blindside fl anker made him a prob-
able member of the final 31-man
party, was helped off before the hour
with a serious-looking hamstring
injury. The Exeter forward was due
to undergo a scan , but his prospects
of making it to Japan appear forlorn.
Seymour, forced off in the 17th
minute, and Thomson, who departed
early in the second half on his Test

debut, will be subject to head injury

protocols after failing their assess-

ments. Particular care will be exercised

with Thomson, who returned for the

Scarlets at the end of last season after

a concussion in November kept him

out for fi ve months.

Townsend, set to name his fi nal

squad on 3 September, confirmed

that all three players are likely to

miss this week’s trip to Tbilisi, where

Scotland will become the fi rst tier-

one nation to play in Georgia next

Saturday, before facing the same

opponents at Murrayfield in their

fi nal warm-up Test.

While the head coach took heart

from an improved defensive display,

as in Nice they conceded inside two

minutes. Peter Horne, with the French

defence up fast, threw a terrible pass

that was picked off by Penaud, who

raced home from halfway untouched.

Thomas Ramos converted for an

early 7-0 lead, but Greig Laidlaw,

returning to the side as captain, got

Scotland on the board with a penalty

in the fi fth minute.

Thomson’s fi rst major contribution

was a thumping hit on halfway that

led to a turnover, only for Scotland to

waste Maitland’s break down the left

when Ryan Wilson was penalised for

going off his feet.

That aside, Wilson surely laid claim

to one of the likely fi ve back-row spots

in the World Cup squad with a com-

bative display, Hamish Watson’s

The second French try was again

soft from a Scottish perspective.

Centre Sofiane Guitoune motored

through a gap before feeding Penaud

on the right fl ank for an easy run-in.

Props Willem Nel and Gordon

Reid brought stability to the scrum

though and Scotland got they fi llip

they needed just before half-time.

Blair Kinghorn snaffl ed a long pass

intended for Penaud in the French 22.

Harris kept it alive, and swift recy-

cling saw Finn Russell put Maitland

over in the left corner.

Laidlaw added a majestic touchline

conversion to give the half-time score

a far healthier sheen from a home

perspective.

Scotland were ahead in the 58th

minute, Wilson and Watson taking

them to within a metre of the French

line before Harris barrelled onto

Laidlaw’s short pass to dive over at

the posts.

Laidlaw’s conversion took

Scotland 17-14 clear, and they might

have had  further tries, Stuart Hogg

claiming his own kick ahead in a

thrilling break before a knock-on

killed the move.

“It was not a perfect performance

clearly,” said Townsend. “But I was

satisfi ed to see how the players found

a way to win against a team that beat

them comfortably a week ago.”

2

Scotland now have two matches

against Georgia, on 31 August

and 6 September, to fi ne-tune their

preparations before they face a

formidable fi rst game of the

World Cup against Ireland

in Yokohama on 22

September.

Bryn Palmer
Murrayfi eld

17
SCOTLAND

14

FRANCE

Hogg ; Seymour (Kinghorn

17), Harris, P Horne

(Hutchinson 65), Maitland ;

Russell, Laidlaw (capt); G

Horne 70); Reid (Dell 48),

Turner, Nel (Berghan 57),

Cummings (Gilchrist 57),

Skinner (Stewart 63),

Wilson, Watson, Thomson

(Barclay, 42)

Tries Maitland, Harris Cons

Laidlaw 2 Pen Laidlaw

Ramos (Médard 63);

Penaud, Guitone, Fickou,

Raka ; Lopez (Ntamack 38),

Dupont; Poirot (Baille 51),

Guirado (capt ; Chat 51),

Slimani, Lambey

(Taofifenua 51),

Vahaamahina, Iturria,

Ollivon, Alldritt

Tries Penaud 2 Cons

Ramos 2

Scotland France

Referee Wayne Barnes (Eng) Attendance 66,181

‘It was clearly

not a perfect

performance but

I was satisfi ed the

players found a

way to win’

Gregor Townsend

return at openside also galvanising

the Scots. Of the other World Cup

hopefuls, Skinner showed up well

until his untimely injury, and second-

row partner Scott Cummings grafted

hard on his fi rst Test start. In mid-

fi eld, Horne recovered well from his

early lapse and Harris capped a solid

outing with a well-taken try. Whether

it is enough to edge him ahead of

Huw Jones remains to be seen.