Paul Midgley finds Musselburgh winning line

Yorkshire trainer Paul Midgley scooped the £100,000 William Hill Scottish Sprint Cup and the valuable Tartan Trophy consolation race on sold out Ladies Day at Musselburgh.

Line of Reason swoops late to win the Sprint Cup. Photograph: Andy OBrien

Joe Fanning threaded Line Of Reason through the eye of a needle to land the big one just over an hour after Connor Murtagh also produced Orient Class with a late thrust.

Line Of Reason, sent off at 11/1, brought the 10,000 crowd to its feet after pipping Harry Hurricane by a length and a quarter.

A beaming Midgley said: “It’s brilliant to win two such high profile sprints on the same day never mind the same card. Our stable is all about speed and it’s nice to enjoy a bit of luck for a change as we’ve seen the other side of the coin too - that’s the way it goes in these competitive dashes.

“Line Of Reason is a quality horse and he lost his form a bit over the winter in Dubai. He needs fast ground and it’s a very good prize to pick up – he may go to Ireland next.

16/1 chance Orient Class was a first course success for Murtagh, who said: “They didn’t hang about and it was very quick race. It was very straightforward and we got the breaks when we needed them.”

Jim Goldie flew the flag for Scotland as Great Fighter followed up last month’s course win the Stobo Castle Ladies Day Gold Cup with Keith Dalgleish pair Kensington Star and Sebastian’s Wish second and third.

The Renfrewshire trainer said: “For a big horse he acts very well here and he’s also a winning hurdler. He’s a won on the Flat at 1m 6f to two miles now and hopefully he’ll improve enough to get into the Ebor.

“He’s an exciting prospect for the summer and remember he was good enough to finish third in the Swinton Hurdle at Haydock last month. He’s certainly a horse to look forward to either over hurdles or on the Flat.”

At York, Golden Apollo benefited from the frenetic pace to come through and get up close home to win the Catherine Kinloch Paver Memorial Macmillan Charity Handicap.

A fifth success in the race for Tim Easterby, Golden Apollo (5-1) was backing up a victory at Pontefract just five days earlier for which he had to carry a 5lb penalty.

Easterby said: “He was always a nice horse last year. He should have won at Hamilton but didn’t quite get there. He got it right eventually at Doncaster.

“ He’s a horse that comes off the bridle and picks up, so I told James not to panic, but he rode a really good race on him.

“He just got there, it was a bit close.

Sullivan said: “He stays the six very well and a straight six suits him down to the ground.”