'We seem to do quite well rejuvenating them' - £30,000 buy Milan Bridge records first win for Sarah Humphrey

Milan Bridge was last of seven runners at Leicester last month but the seven-year-old emphatically bounced back to form to record his first success for trainer Sarah Humphrey.

The 10-1 shot landed the 3m1½f handicap chase under Daryl Jacob on his third start for Humphrey since being bought for £30,000 from Paul Nicholls in May.

“He probably wants much better ground than he had at Leicester,” said Humphrey. “He’s not entirely straightforward. He’s a lovely horse but he’s lazy really. Daryl was very positive on him and kept him right up to his work the whole way."

Milan Bridge had been owned by the Exors Of The Late Trevor Hemmings when recording his only previous success over fences in a walkover at Ascot in November last year.

“My owners don’t have vastly deep pockets and the little niche that we as a yard seem to do well with is finding horses that may be from the bigger yards and have lost their way,” said Humphrey. 

“We seem to do quite well rejuvenating them or just letting them run at a slightly lower level than he would have been with Paul Nicholls.

“We’re a small yard and they get a lot of individual attention and they do seem to thrive on it.”

Deutsch delivers

Charlie Deutsch rode his fourth winner from just seven rides for trainer Mel Rowley when partnering Commanding View to make a successful handicap debut. Success in the 2m handicap hurdle completed a double for Deutsch, who also landed the feature 2m3½f novice handicap chase on the Venetia Williams-trained Oxygen.

Happy Henderson

Nicky Henderson’s Lady D’Arbanville defied a 583-day absence in impressive fashion in the bumper, scoring by seven and a half lengths under Nico de Boinville, who had earlier helped Fierce Warrior get off the mark over hurdles for the Seven Barrows trainer.

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