Hitch a ride on the Harris and Mulholland flyer
Ever heard of London Bus syndrome? You wait for ages when no bus is appearing, and then several turn up in quick succession. It looks like this happy affliction has infected the yards of Milton Harris and Neil Mulholland, both of whom are in red hot form presently.
Hard on the heels of the three winner we reported last week, Milton Harris travelled to Sedgefield today to land a double with Knight Salute in the maiden hurdle and Sergeant in the Conditional Riders' handicap hurdle, both ridden by claimer Mitchell Bastyan. Knight Salute is an Andrew Balding cast-off that seems to have appreciated a longer distance, whilst Sergeant is making the most of a lowly handicap mark following a win at the end of August. Both finished their races well - a sign there may yet be more to come, and my guess is that Milton will strike whilst he is in form.
The Sutton Veny yard of Milton Harris is in rebuild mode, and based on current performance, you'd have to reckon 30 winners and £200k in prize money would be well within reach come April.
By contrast Neil Mulholland's success chart has followed less peaks and troughs. A double today brings his seasonal tally to 25 winners, with a quarter of the season past, but the big prizes all ahead. It's fair to say this is where the going gets tougher for middle-ranking yards without the financial muscle that a Henderson or Nicholls can command, but Mulholland does exceptionally well. The yard has generated no less than £1/2 million in prize money in five of the last six seasons.
Today's winners, handicap hurdler Translink, winning his second successive race at Worcester, and 6 year old Ballymilan, successful earlier in the summer at Southwell, maintain the stable's 23% strike rate in September.
I'd say these were buses any trainer would be happy to flag down.
