John Reel triumph

LINGFIELD’s coral.co.uk handicap was worth more than £20,000 to the David Evans-trained winner John Reel (6/1), ridden by John Egan, but the race was marred by the fatal fall of Godolphin challenger Personal Opinion, who was squeezed out and came down approaching the two-furlong marker. Trainer and jockey went on to complete a double when Al’s Memory took the seven-furlong handicap at 5/1.

Win for Boom The Groom

THERE was another tight finish in the six-furlong handicap, worth nearly £12,000 to the winner. A rock-solid form-line paid out here as Tony Carroll’s Boom The Groom, a good second to Lancelot Du Lac over course and distance before Christmas, then second again to a Godolphin improver at Wolverhampton, squeezed between rivals close home to beat Firmdecisions by a neck with Diamond Charlie and Hopes N Dreams right behind.