Scatter Dice has recovered from a being left at the start to score a shock win in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket.
The Mark Johnston-trained filly was slowly out of the stalls and emerged 10 lengths behind the rest but made up the ground to take the ultra-competitive marathon handicap over 3800m.
While Scatter Dice (66-1) was well behind, up front Merchant Of Dubai, Albert Bridge and Sohar cut out the running until the race gathered momentum from four furlongs (800m) out.
Silvestre de Sousa brought Scatter Dice wide to make her challenge and she stormed home to win by three lengths from Waterclock.
“She’s had a long, hard season but has run well on so many occasions,” Johnston said.
“She’s going to retire at the end of the year, that was the plan anyway, so I suppose this was her last chance.
“She’s run a couple of strange races recently, dropping herself out, so I was a bit concerned in the first half of the race that she was all right but then I saw her hanging in with the pack. I saw her coming from a quite a long way out.”
Trainer Marco Botti and jockey Martin Harley enjoyed their biggest success since officially teaming up when Al Thakhira (5-1) ran out a convincing winner of the Group Two Rockfel Stakes.
Once Harley pressed the button, Al Thakhira went clear to score by three and a quarter lengths from Blockade with Valonia third and the odds-on favourite Lightning Thunder only fourth.
“She won her maiden at Yarmouth and we thought quite a lot of her, but with stepping up to seven furlongs, the question was whether she would get the trip,” said Botti.
“The owner is keen to go to the Breeders’ Cup. We will see how she comes out of the race and we won’t rule it out, but it could be premature.”
