[W]inning jockey Paul Hanagan credited a change of tactics as he rode to triumph in the historic Carlisle Bell Handicap.
His mount Carnageo wore blinkers for the first time at Carlisle on Wednesday after a disappointing series of performances in recent outings.
The 13/2 joint favourite triumphed by half a length in the 16-horse race – a welcome return to last season’s form of three wins for the four-year-old French-born gelding.
Hanagan said: “He’s lost concentration on his last few runs and I think the blinkers have done him the world of good. He’s a good horse and today he was focussed.”
The £30,000 bookies.com-sponsored handicap was the feature of the Cumbrian course’s biggest day of flat racing. The Bell is branded ‘The race that stops Carlisle’ and an enthusiastic crowd cheered on Carnageo as it held off King’s Pavilion and Georgian Bay over seven furlongs.
The win was another success for trainer Richard Fahey, hot on the heels of Ribchester’s triumph in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last week.
And while Fahey is well acquainted with winning major races, he couldn’t hide his delight at winning such a long-established prize.
The North Yorkshire-based trainer thanked horse and team in a Tweet straight after the race adding: “Always wanted to win the Carlisle Bell.”
Hanagan, twice crowned champion flat jockey, added: “I’m pleased for the trainer and particularly the owners (The Up For Anything Syndicate) who’ve always been great with me. I’ve ridden the horse many times and I knew the ground would suit him.
“We didn’t go off too quickly and it was quite rough but when he got to the front he wasn’t being beaten.”
The Bell is the world’s oldest sporting trophy still contested, and dates back to 1599 and the reign of Elizabeth I.
The two bells are currently kept at Newmarket’s National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art but were delivered back to the course in time for yesterday’s race.
The centre’s assistant curator Alan Grundy said: “Being very small and delicate they travel in a special protective case which didn’t leave my side.”
Geraldine McKay, Carlisle Racecourse General Manager, said: “What a fantastic day. The Carlisle Bell was again a closely fought contest – a really cracking race that had all the drama we come to expect from Cumbria’s Derby Day.
“Well done to Keith Fahey and Paul Hanagan – it is a win that will live long in the memory for all involved.”
