A review of the pick of the rest of the action from Haydock Park
Saturday 31 May 2014 17:20, UK
Kieren Fallon pounced late aboard the Roger Varian-trained Steps to claim Listed honours in the Winning Express Achilles Stakes at Haydock.
Stuart Williams' stable stalwart Eton Rifles looked likely to emerge victorious after striking on heading towards the last of five furlongs, but six-times champion jockey Fallon weaved through aboard 6/1 shot Steps and got up by a neck. Da'Quonde was a couple of lengths further back in third.
Varian's assistant, David Eustace, said: "That was great. He's a star. Kieren gave him a great ride. He decided to cover him up and he actually ended up getting there too soon. He's not ungenuine, he just thinks he's done enough when he gets to the front.
"That's his level - Listed races or big handicaps - although we could even have a go at a Group Three at some stage. He loves it when they go quick in front."
Fallon, not normally associated with Varian's horses, said: "He got there in the end, I didn't want to get there too soon as pulls up in front and the line came just in time.
"It's frustrating for trainers (booking jockeys) with all these good meetings on today, but it's great to get on nice little horses like this, it builds your confidence."
Dubai Hills registered his first turf triumph in the best part of two years with a runaway victory in the haydock-park.co.uk Handicap on Merseyside.
Formerly trained by Bryan Smart before joining fellow Yorkshire-based trainer David O'Meara at the start of the new campaign, the eight-year-old was a 4-1 shot for the curtain-raiser in the hands of Daniel Tudhope.
Dubai Hills tracked the front-running King Of Eden for the first half of the one-mile contest before being sent on three furlongs down and it was soon clear his rivals were struggling to bridge the gap.
Extraterrestrial came out of the pack in an attempt to throw down a challenge, but Dubai Hills passed the post with four lengths in hand.
"It's just taken a while to get him fully fit this year and he's had a few problems, but I'm delighted for the owners, who are nice people," said Tudhope. "The horse was tanking with me the whole way and I probably got to the front too soon, but he did it well. It's tacky ground."
Ed Walker's Lightning Moon (11-10 favourite) looks destined for bigger and better things after securing his second win from as many starts with a six-length romp in the Racing UK Anywhere Available Now Handicap.
Winning jockey William Buick said: "Ed has a lot of belief in this horse and he did it really well. He's got a lot of talent. I don't know how far he'll go, but he dealt with them pretty easily."
The concluding Download New RacingUK iPad App Handicap went to Dettori on Peter Chapple-Hyam's Farquhar (2-1 favourite).