Luck smiles on Durcan

Ted Durcan brought a bit of sunshine back from Dubai as Bit of Luck ran out a surprise winner of the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Rated Stakes at Newbury today.

The 20-1 shot came fast and late down the outside to give the Irishman his first winner since returning from Dubai at the start of the week.

The Mark Tompkins-trained winner edged out Impeller by a short-head in a thrilling finish to the one-mile contest with another head back to Perfect Storm.

Durcan finished the season in Dubai with a total of 58 winners over the winter, comfortably enough to retain the champion jockeys` title there.

'I`ve had another great season and ended up with one more than last year - I think I finished 18 clear in the championship,' he said.

'Mark`s got me back in the swing straight away which is the best way to be. The winter`s been great but I`m looking forward to the summer just as much.'

Tompkins paid tribute to Durcan, saying: 'It`s great to have Ted back, I wish there were more jockeys around like him.

'He is an invaluable asset to the team. He`s going to be riding three lots a day out for me now he`s back and we have a full stable of 60 horses for him to ride.

'We ran this horse in the Lingfield race behind Castle Gandolfo but he got very tired. He`s done very well to win as if he`d got beat then he would have been an unlucky loser. I think he`s a pretty good horse.

'It`s great to have Ted back, I wish there were more jockeys like him around.'

Kyllachy landed an early-morning gamble in the Dubai Tennis Championship Rated Stakes.

Available at 9-1 with Coral, the Henry Candy-trained four-year-old was widely tipped in the papers and did the business in the five-furlong handicap, beating Trace Clip by one and three-quarter lengths.

Candy himself was at Thirsk where Kyllachy`s half-sister, Follow Flanders, was also at the scoresheet.

But winning owners Thurloe Thoroughbreds were onhand to welcome in the winner and spokesman James Satfford said: 'He is basically a horse who is best when fresh, just as it said in the papers this morning.

'He was running off 103 here and he`ll probably go up to at least 109 now so we`ll have to look at Listed and Group Three races for him, he has always worked like that sort of horse.

'He needs to be covered up for a run and this was just his sort of race.'

Memories of 1997 Epsom Derby winner Benny The Dip were rekindled when his son, Proven, turned in a sound performance to win the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire Conditions Stakes.

Like Benny The Dip, Proven is trained by John Gosden, who said: 'He looks like his father and he will go to York now where we might get an idea if he is as good as his father.

'I think he will go for the Michael Seely Glasgow Stakes and then we will think about Epsom, the French Derby or maybe the Italian Derby.'

Proven is available at 33-1 for the Vodafone Derby with Coral and Paddy Power but Islington made rather more of an impression in the Oaks market when winning the Sanctuary Group Maiden Fillies` Stakes.

The well-backed 4-6 favourite made light work of her 15 rivals to become the new 8-1 favourite across the board for the Epsom fillies` Classic.

Again the comparisons were flowing thick and fast, this time with 1983 Oaks heroine Sun Princess, who carried the same pale blue colours as Islington, those of Lord Weinstock.

Trainer Sir Michael Stoute`s representative, Coral Pritchard-Gordon, said: 'She is a nice filly who has been showing up well and I think Michael will have enjoyed watching that.'

Lord Weinstock, Stoute and jockey Kieren Fallon completed a double when another hot favourite Gamut (also 33-1 for the Derby with Hills) took the Peter Smith Memorial Maiden Stakes.

Another filly to make a positive impression was Up Market, who gave the Henry Cecil-Richard Quinn pairing a welcomewinner in the Bridget Maiden Fillies` Stakes.