Almosh’her sets up Ebor bid with winning debut for Burke

Karl Burke made a winning start to the new season at York as his fresh recruit Almosh’her got the better of a ding-dong battle with Stressfree in the Sky Bet Race To The Ebor Jorvik Handicap.

A dual winner from three all-weather starts for Charlie Fellowes, the four-year-old was a 15-2 shot for his first start since moving from Newmarket to North Yorkshire and displayed a willing attitude once challenged to make a successful stable debut by a head in the hands of Clifford Lee.

Burke said: “That’s a good start to the season here, hopefully it continues!

“He got sent to us from Charlie’s, who had done very well with him so it’s unfortunate for him, but we can only deal with what is put in front of us.

“He’s a lovely horse but he’s still a big baby and came with a reputation of being a live-wire. He has settled into our routine and is better than when he first came, but we didn’t know what he’d be like at the races. He’s done things OK but hopefully he’ll get better.

“That was a win-and-you’re-in for the Ebor, so we’ll be working back from that if he stays that sort of trip, but he needs to learn to race properly.”