No stall-ing this time for Hever hero Clarendon House

Clarendon House put his stalls demons behind him to and held off favourite Marshman to win the BetUK Hever Sprint Stakes at Southwell.

A track-record holder, the Robert Cowell-trained seven-year-old had developed a bit of a phobia in the gates in the second half of last season.

Although his ability has never been questioned, had he broken slowly or failed to come out on this occasion, his racing future may have been called into question.

However, refreshed from a winter break, he broke smartly under Sean Levey and once he grabbed pole position on the rail, he was always going to be difficult to peg back.

Karl Burke’s Marshman, who finds this five-furlong trip a bit sharp, was closing all the while as the line approached, but Clarendon House (13-2) held on by half a length.

“That was brilliant. He’s been ridden at home by Willie Carson’s grandson Graham and he said he was in splendid form,” said Cowell.

“He said that if he comes out of the stalls he’ll go very close, but obviously the gates are the issue.

“He’s a very talented horse, as you can clearly see.

“We decided to do absolutely nothing at home about the stalls, we’ve done it all before so for today we did nothing and decided to shock him by going to the races.

“I don’t know what we’ll do now, he won’t run on Finals Day as that is six furlongs so we might wait for the grass.”

Tim Palin of owners Middleham Park Racing said: “We’d done everything to try to freshen him up, he went up to Richie McGrath for a month in Middleham for a holiday.

“Robert had been very happy with him since he came back. We know he’s a talented horse, but he’s had his quirks – it was if we could iron them out and we seem to have so far.

“I loved the way he knuckled down and went again, he still retains every bit of fire which is lovely to see. We could have been having a very different conversation today had he not come out.

“He’s all speed so races like the (Epsom) Dash will come into it.”

Roger Varian was praised by Jack Mitchell as the lightly-raced Glen Buck (10-11 favourite) took his tally to four wins from just five starts in the Extra Winnings With BetUK Acca Club Handicap.

He made a winning debut at four, followed up under a penalty but then missed the best part of another two years.

This was his third run since November and in winning by three lengths off a mark of 89 connections look sure to have plenty more fun with him.

“He’s a lovely character and we probably haven’t seen the best of him,” said Mitchell.

“We hadn’t really pressed any buttons before his last run, he was very strong at the line so we were keen to go up a furlong with him

“Roger deserves a lot of credit, he’s had issues so it’s an amazing achievement. Touch wood he stays injury free and healthy and we can have a nice summer with him.”