Smart Success For Wootton Bassett Colt On Return

The Mark Johnston-trained Naamoos (Wootton Bassett - Praise Dancing, by Blame) appears to have a promising three-year-old campaign ahead of him after making a winning return in Saturday’s Royal Mile Handicap at Musselburgh.

A 17 length winner as a two-year-old, he had not been seen since October and was partnered by Ben Curtis for the first time in Saturday's Class 2 contest. Making all of the running, he was ridden from two furlongs out and kept on strongly to deny stablemate Forest Falcon by half a length, as the favourite Colonel Faulkner (Wootton Bassett) kept on for third.

Owned by HH Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa and partner, Naamoos was bought by Oliver St Lawrence for €115,000 as a yearling from breeder Haras de Bourgeauville. He is one of two winners by Wootton Bassett out of Praise Dancing, while a full-brother to the pair sold for €180,000 last September.