THIS is the dramatic moment a horse struggling in near last surges through to win – pipping The Queen’s runner in the process.
Sammarr, a 6-1 shot, found an electrifying turn of foot from absolutely nowhere to rob Her Majesty of a winner at Lingfield.
The eventual winner, circled, was miles back with hardly any of the race left
Brilliant win! Golden Horn filly Sammarr rockets home from near last to make a taking winning debut under @Mitchelljack77 for @varianstable at @LingfieldPark pic.twitter.com/x36ZG4eoPq
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) December 21, 2020
But the unbelievable win seemed to have no chance of happening with just a third of the race left to run.
Turning the corner for the home straight in the 1m race, jockey Jack Mitchell looked to be working hard to get any sort of ride at all on his mount.
But whatever the heck happened to this apparent no-hoper, Mitchell needs to bottle it and use it again.
The jockey himself admitted afterwards he would have been delighted just to finish second.
But an unlikely win appeared more and more likely as the two-year-old picked off rivals one by one.
Flying down the outside, Sammarr was ridden to lead in the final 110 yards and bolted up on the line, finishing ‘like a rocket’ according to the Sky Sports commentator.
The incredible climax meant The Queen was forced to think what could have been with her horse, 9-2 shot Vital Force, finishing in second by just over a length.
A stunned Mitchell – who picked up a £6,210 first-place prize for connections – said afterwards: “I was in an unpromising position most of the way.
“I was just trying to teach her something and see if she picked up. She really picked up coming round the last bend!
“She was on such a good rhythm and had good momentum coming down the hill I wanted her to keep it up down the straight.
“I would have been happy with second. She’s an exciting one for next year.”
Speaking on Sky Sports Racing, host Alex Hammond said it was an ‘extraordinary performance’.
One equally impressed fan purred: “Some performance on debut given how much ground she had to make up.”
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Celeb Report. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
