Havlin banned as Free Wind breezes off trouble in running to win Lancashire Oaks

Saturday: Haydock

You can tell a stable has a real stranglehold on a race when their runner can be squeezed out, is forced to switch, yet still comes through to win well.

The John and Thady Gosden yard had already won the Lancashire Oaks a record eight times, and anyone watching them make it nine through the exploits of Free Wind might think twice about trying to take them on next year.

Victory looked unlikely for the four-year-old when she got a hefty bump when challenging against the rail on the inside of the leader Eshaada around two furlongs out. She appeared to lose her balance for a few strides, and had to be switched round Jim Crowley's mount to relaunch her challenge.

Yet so well did she pick up, on her first outing for ten months, that she led around 100 yards from home and won by more than two lengths.

Free Wind was the third of those nine Lancashire Oaks winners to be ridden by Robert Havlin, who landed his first Pattern victory on Place Rouge in this Group 2 event in 2003.

Recounting an eventful success, he said: "I found myself in behind Jim and I thought he was the one to track. His horse just drifted off the rail a little.

"I gave Jim half a furlong to see if he was going to go back in, but I felt he was off the rail long enough. The gap was there so I sent my filly through it and she was going well. As I was halfway in [the gap] it started to get tight. But credit to the filly – she organised herself and picked up."

But the stewards did not see the race as Havlin did and banned him for five days, judging that his pursuit of the closing gap was careless riding.

Free Wind, who was cut to 2-1 (from 7-2) by Paddy Power for the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood, and to 8-1 (from 12) for the Yorkshire Oaks, won four of her five starts in 2021, and landed an impressive success in the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster on her final outing.

"We always thought she was a proper filly last year and she proved it there," added Havlin.

"She doesn't show you a great deal at home – she never has – but on the track she's been really progressive. She looks like a Group 1 filly."

Ebor aim for Get Shirty

There were cheers and tears in the stand as Get Shirty landed the £150,000 bet365 Old Newton Cup, and it is likely there was just as excited a reaction across the Irish Sea.

Owner Mark Akela was in Ireland and missed seeing his six-year-old score by a comfortable length and a half under Danny Tudhope to follow up last month's success in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot.

But his son Odhran said excitedly: "My dad will be gutted not to be here. I can't put it into words – I was nearly reduced to tears in the stand. It's very special and off the back of Ascot a couple of weeks ago, that's amazing."

Get Shirty was scoring his fourth win in five starts in 2022, and trainer David O'Meara said: "He's a tough horse, isn't he? He's had a wonderful season and has been beaten only once at Ripon when it turned into a bit of a sprint. The winner that day ran well in the Chester Cup, so there was no shame in that.

"He's been brilliant. He was up 6lb from Ascot and he's a wonderful, tough, genuine horse. He had very good form in France and lost his way a little bit. The Ebor would be a great race for him."

Get Shirty follows up his Royal Ascot success by landing the Old Newton CupCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Local win for Fallon

Cieren Fallon was brought up in nearby Wigan and gained his first big win when landing the Old Borough Cup here on Time To Study in 2019.

The dual former champion apprentice has gone from strength to strength since, but was glad to score another notable Haydock success as Nathanael Greene took the £100,000 bet365 Handicap over 1m6f.

"This is my local track and it means a lot," he said after the 6-1 shot, a close second at Goodwood last month, led in the last half-furlong to gain his second win of the year.

The jockey added: "He didn't have the best trip round, he got knocked about, and he's still a big baby who is still growing up. That's the first time he's run on this sort of ground and he loved it.

"He was a bit unlucky last time – he bumped into a progressive horse who had a 5lb claimer on top. He did the donkey work that day so it was good to get a lead here."

The winner is trained by William Haggas, whose wife Maureen said: "He enjoyed the ground and the trip. The cheekpieces finished the job off. He's getting better with a step up in trip – let's hope he can keep going forward."

Nathanael Greene: another valuable Haydock win for Cieren FallonCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

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