Gemma Tutty beaming as Spring Mile star Look Back Smiling gives trainer her biggest success

Gemma Tutty's fine year got even better when she landed the biggest win of her career with Look Back Smiling in the £75,000 William Hill Spring Mile.

She took over the licence at her yard on the North Yorkshire Moors in 2022 and has been in fine form on the all-weather, with two winners from her last five runners prior to Saturday.

That became a joyous three from six as Look Back Smiling took the Lincoln reserve race, holding off Thunder Roar by half a length despite hanging right in front under Brandon Wilkie.

"We've had a really good start to the year," Tutty said. "We've been targeting the all-weather championship so we've had more runners than we normally would through the winter and thankfully plenty have been winning. 

"And you can't have a better start to the turf season than this so I'm absolutely delighted. The staff have worked so hard all winter. We've been up and down the motorway for evening meetings all winter.

"I'm so thankful to the team behind me, you don't get here with horses like this as a one-man band. It's a team effort."

Reflecting on Look Back Smiling's failure to keep straight, Tutty said: "You could see in the final furlong he's not that straightforward.

"He's not made life easy for the jockey but he had his head in front where it matters."

Another champion scores

Silvestre de Sousa was not the only former champion to make a triumphant comeback as two-time apprentice title winner Cieren Fallon landed his first race since spending four and a half months on the sidelines with ankle and knee ligament damage.

He looked as though he had never been away as he delivered a perfectly judged challenge to land the William Hill Cammidge Trophy on Montassib for William Haggas.

After asking people to pray for injured jockey Stefano Cherchi, who is his sister Brittany's partner, Fallon said of his own recovery: "I'm very lucky, the team at Peter O'Sullevan House have put in countless hours building me back for these moments. I can't thank them enough.

"I took my time, I've been off for four and a half months, I didn't want to come back too soon, I made sure I came back 100 per cent. I've been riding out for the last three weeks and the boss has put me on some nice quiet horses to get me some confidence.

"I feel great, stronger than ever, and I don't feel like I've lost any race sharpness at all. I think it's going to be a good year."

Mini triumph for Cunha

Zminiature, who gets his name from his diminutive status, may have been a 16-1 shot but that is not to say his victory in the Brocklesby Stakes was a surprise, at least to his trainer. 

After the colt had landed the traditional start to the British two-year-old season, Dylan Cunha said: "That was expected. We really fancied him. He's small but he's done a lot of work and he's tough. We took him to Chelmsford on Monday and did all we had to. He's tiny but he's a lovely horse. 

"It's nice to get an early two-year-old winner. We started with three horses 18 months ago and we're up to 50 now, 25 of them two-year-olds."

Read more:

David Egan and Amo kick off turf season in spectacular style as 33-1 shot Mr Professor storms home in Lincoln 

'I love British racing' - Silvestre de Sousa back with a bang as three-time champion lands turf opener on Charyn 

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