Gutsy Mr McCann cheers Liverpool players after opening day frustration

Saturday: Haydock

Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw in their Premier League opener at Fulham, but some of the team had reason to cheer as Mr McCann won the mile handicap under a positive ride by Tom Marquand.

It was so nearly a great few minutes for Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who is part of Mr McCann's owners AJT Group, as moments before the race, he hit the crossbar in injury-time at Craven Cottage.

"I'm not a mad football follower and apparently Liverpool haven't had too great a result today," said Marquand. "I’ve been keeping an eye on it in the weighing room and at least they've had a winner now."

The Hugo Palmer-trained colt, who is also owned by James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson along with ex-Red Adam Lallana, had his sights lowered after being set some stiff targets and hung on to score by half a length.

"He's won at this track before and when you go forward here you can get a little bit of a fill up," said Marquand. "He's tough because he got headed at one point and had to fight back, so it was a really good performance.

"He had a couple of tough tasks, which were justified based on what he had done, but he can knock around at this level competitively and is going to be a fun horse."

Anmaat blossoms in Rose of Lancaster

The season just keeps getting better for trainer Owen Burrows, who was taken aback by the ease with which Anmaat cruised home in the Betfred Rose of Lancaster Stakes.

Winner of the John Smith's Cup on his comeback last month, Anmaat took another step forward when comfortably accounting for 11-8 favourite Grocer Jack in the Group 3 contest.

"What surprised me was how far he travelled on the bridle. He's obviously really improving but we didn't expect that," said Burrows.

"It was a big performance to win first time up at York and he had pleased me since. We were stepping out of handicap company and I'm not sure where we'll go next; they'll be nice discussions to have.

"It was quick at York but interestingly Jim [Crowley] thought the bit of juice in the ground suited him."

Anmaat (right): surges clear to win the Rose of Lancaster by four lengthsCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Burrows, whose Hukum suffered a career-threatening injury in winning the Group 1 Coronation Cup, also won at this level last month with Minzaal, who runs in the Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday.

"It's been well documented that we've had a tough time [with Hukum], but credit to all my team for keeping their heads down and we're getting the results for it," the trainer said.

"It's huge because we don't have a massive team now and the future is looking pretty good."

Star overcomes scare

Royal Ascot winner Rising Star overcame a major scare in the build-up to win in the Listed Dick Hern Stakes.

Connections of the Mamba Racing-owned Kensington Palace winner thought she might not race again, but she showed herself to be in top form with a last-gasp success under Andrea Atzeni.

"Ten days ago we thought she had done a tendon, but we got the all-clear and just being here is a blessing," said racing manager Malcolm O'Connell.

"Royal Ascot was a big win, but getting this black type was what we were really after."

Results, replays and analysis

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