Celebration time for Joe Fanning after riding 2,500th British Flat winner

Joe Fanning was on Saturday night celebrating his 2,500th winner on the Flat in Britain after guiding Universal Gleam to victory in the mile handicap at Redcar.

Fanning, who rode his first winner in 1990, and Frankie Dettori are the only active riders to have achieved the landmark.

The rider, who turns 49 next month, said: "It's hard to believe it's 2,500 but it's grand to do it. I thought it might be on this horse."

The winner was trained by Keith Dalgleish, who Fanning combined with to score on What's The Story at the Ebor meeting on Thursday. However, the rider is best known for his association with record-breaking trainer Mark Johnston and added: "I've had a great career and it pays to have a good job with a trainer like Mark Johnston."

Universal Gleam was Fanning's 104th winner of the season. The last time he failed to pass the century mark was in 2008, while his most prolific campaign was in 2012 when he notched 188 winners.

In 2016 he registered his first Group 1 win on The Last Lion – trained by his boss Johnston – in the Middle Park Stakes.

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