THE St Leger meeting made its usual comparatively quiet start on Wednesday, when the Listed Scarbrough Stakes over five furlongs went to 2/1 favourite Global Applause, though only after a sustained duel with the ultra-consistent El Astronaute.

Newmarket trainer Robert Cowell has made a name for himself with sprinters and Global Applause, formerly with Ed Dunlop, had looked good when accounting for a fair field at Sandown last time.

Here, in a race with several horses somewhere between top handicap and listed class, he joined El Astronaute soon after the two-furlong marker but had to be driven out by Gerald Mosse to hold the runner-up by a head. El Astronaute is a credit to John Quinn and ran another fine race, with Encore D’Or a close third.

“I won’t run him over six furlongs so the Ayr Gold Cup is out,” Cowell said of the winner. “He’s a smart horse but still not quite where I want him. He needs one more run this season and then we can have some fun next year.”

EUGINIO’S TACTICS

It is probably fair to say that the Richard Hannon stable has more horses effective at 10 furlongs plus since Richard junior took over. Euginio is one such and won the four-runner William Hill Leading Racecourse Bookmaker Conditions Stakes by a length and a half from Godolphin’s Emirates Flyer with Afaak third.

Afaak (5/4 favourite) looked a very good miler in the spring but this 10-furlong trip tested him and he had little more to give when headed approaching the two-furlong pole.

Ryan Moore sent Euginio (11/8) to the front and was always holding the runner-up on the run to the line. Euginio had been running in listed and Group 3 races and the drop in class proved beneficial.

CROWLEY’S MIXED DAY

Jim Crowley had a mixed day. Afaak was a little disappointing but Khaadem, also trained by Charlie Hills for Sheik Hamdan, ran out a clear-cut winner of the opening six-furlong conditions stakes for two-year-olds, justifying 11/8 favouritism in the process. The son of Dark Angel beat Swissterious by just over a length.

“He’s a lovely horse with size and scope,” Hills said. “Sheikh Hamdan will decide where we go but there’s a good chance it will be the Middle Park at Newmarket.”

With every greyhound track in London now an increasingly distant memory, it is good to know that Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield is still going strong. Crowley got up on 9/4 favourite Fanaar in the same colours in the nursery which carries the stadium’s name and opted to drop him in towards the stands’ rails.

Trapped for too long, Fanaar eventually found a way through but James Doyle on Mark Johnston’s Arctic Sound was away and clear, passing the post with just over a length to spare. This was another example of Johnston winning a handicap with a horse tried at a higher level and there are still Group 2 opportunities for Arctic Sound this season.

SMILING FANSHAWE

Trainer James Fanshawe, still on a high after The Tin Man’s Haydock triumph, won the mile and a half fillies’ handicap with the quietly-backed Lady Bergamot, (10/1), who was in front for George Wood two furlongs out and ran on well to beat Thimbleweed.

The closing five-furlong handicap looked tricky but punters were on the mark with Mick Appleby’s Saaheq, 7/2 joint-favourite despite not having run since late 2017, when he performed over longer trips for Brian Meehan. This looked like a good, old-fashioned ‘job’. David Egan was in the saddle.