Knight on the Town (Moor)

Sat 03 Jun 2023

WINNER 45 OF 2023: LEXINGTON KNIGHT, trained by Richard Hannon and ridden by Dane O'Neill: The 'Westfield Health Proudly Supports WPCC Handicap' over 1m 4f at Doncaster.

With form figures this year of 5,3,2,5,3,2, you could imagine another 5 coming up to continue the sequence, but the duo of Lex Knight and Dane had other plans......

Drawn in the middle of the stalls he broke well to lead. About halfway, he was headed and Dane allowed the other horse to take them along, but he remained prominent. Pushed along 2f out, he led again and ridden inside the final furlong, as he faced challengers, he ran on well to win by 1/2 a length.

"It's Lexington Knight and Dane O'Neill!" Watch the full race replay here: https://www.attheraces.com/racecard/Doncaster/02-June-2023/2050

Timeform rated it as an 82 performance, saying: "Consistency is hard to knock, finally got off the mark for the season, well positioned and pulling out a bit more at the finish; led, headed after 4f, remained prominent, pushed along over 3f out, edged ahead again final 1f, kept on; will continue to give a good account even after a small rise in the weights."

There was no post race coverage on Sky Sports Racing, but Dane did say to us, after the race:"Well done everyone. It was a bit of a messy race, but I elected to let the other horse go on a bit and use my stamina for the second half of the race. He ground it out well and when he hit the furlong marker, he wasn't for passing.”

See the official photo gallery here: https://www.nigelkirbyphotography.com/Horse-Racing/Doncaster-Racecourse/Meetings-2023/Doncaster-Races-Fri-02-Jun-2023/Race-8/

Syndicate manager Tim says: "He deserved that, after such consistency this year. Congratulations to his owners on his fourth career win - he has been 1st, 2nd, or 3rd 19 times out of 30 starts. A well judged ride by Dane too - so pats on the back all round!"