Varian ticks bumper off ‘To Do List’

The name of Classic winning trainer Roger Varian was an unlikely one to be found in the racecard but he can now add a bumper (National Hunt flat race) winner to his CV after Shinji scored at Fakenham. On a racetrack for the first time, Shinji travelled effortlessly in midfield before quickening away to score by nine lengths under Aidan Coleman, proving far too good for four rivals, in the colours of the trainer’s wife Hanako.

Varian, who watched the race from home, said: “We should've been there shouldn’t we! We’re very pleased, it’s always nice to have a winner. To see him win as well as he did is VARIAN TICKS BUMPER OFF ‘TO DO LIST’ very gratifying for the whole team and he’s always looked like a lovely horse.

"We thought we’d look at a bumper as opposed to a Flat race and we couldn’t be more pleased with how it has turned out. “We’ll see where we go with him. He stays very well, his sire, Kingston Hill we know very well and I think some of the progeny from the mare stay 1m4f on the Flat.” Varian saddled Kingston Hill to win the St Leger in 2014 having finished runnerup in the Derby. This year Eldar Eldarov emulated the St Leger victory for the Newmarket handler.