Luck be a Lady for Coogan

Scobie Coogan saddled half of his Newmarket stable to success at Brighton as Lady Florence obliged in the Brighton & Hove Streamline Taxis Selling Stakes. Former jump jockey Coogan has just two horses in training at Headquarters, with his other representative being prolific winning sprinter Matsunosuke. Lady Florence had finished runner-up on her two most recent outings at the seaside venue, and went one place better by making all the running under Liam Keniry as the 5-2 favourite. Coogan, who went to 4,400 guineas to keep hold of the four-year-old, said: "She is getting better with age, but has had several problems. "She was caught on the line a few times, and we realised she had a throat problem. We operated on that and she hasn't looked back since." Jamie Spencer only had the two rides, but still hit the target aboard 11-4 favourite Halfway House in the FastwebMedia Handicap. Market rival Vita Mia opened up a handy advantage meeting the rising ground, only for Spencer to unleash the Michael Bell-trained winner, part-owned by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and lead in the dying strides. Spencer commented: "I feared I would get the legendary Sir Alex hairdryer treatment if I got beat!" William Carson's pre-racing walk of the track paid off as the young rider ploughed a lone furrow along the stands rail to capture the C&S Rubbish Clearance Handicap with Stuart Williams' 5-2 favourite Itsher. The jockey said: "I walked the course before racing and with the official vehicles driving along the stands rail you could see it was quicker. We weren't drawn too well and to race on the better ground is a big advantage."