'He's a street fighter like Mike Tyson' - enigmatic Lexington Knight lands feature Challenge Cup

Lexington Knight may be a puzzle for connections but proved he retains plenty of ability when winning the feature Brighton Challenge Cup. 

The Richard Hannon-trained gelding failed to shine on his last two starts but bounced back to his best with the biggest success of his career in the £20,000 contest, seeing off Zhang Fei to win by two and three-quarter lengths for Middleham Park.

"He can be a enigmatic character," said racing director Tim Palin. "It sometimes depends which side of bed he gets out of but once he decides it's a going day, it's on. 

"His ears were flat back at the start of the race like he didn't want to know, but he's a street fighter like Mike Tyson – if he decides he wants to go ahead of another horse, like he did in the last few furlongs, he's determined not to get beaten." 

The win was a first success for Hannon at the track this year and maintained Lexington Knight's unbeaten record with Joe Leavy, who also scored on the six-year-old in May. 

"He's struck up a real rapport with Joe – they seem to understand each other," Palin added. "Maybe Joe goes down to his stable in the morning and knows which side of the bed Lexington Knight has got out off before he puts his silks on!

"We won this race two years ago with Fairmac in the stewards' room, so it's great to win it now comprehensively. The team at Richard's seem to have found the key to him and these sorts of horses are worth their weight in gold." 

Leavy was back in the winner's enclosure 30 minutes later after riding Foinix to victory in the 1m4f classified stakes. 

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