QUEEN of the North Lady Buttons was talk of the town again up at Doncaster.
Stand in jockey Tommy Dowson needed every yard of the course to get his mare up in the Yorkshire Silver Vase to mug Happy Diva and La Bague Au Roi in a thriller.
Phil Kirby’s admirable mare always travelled and jumped sweetly in behind La Bague Au Roi in the Listed contest she won last year.
Dowson was a late super-sub for usual rider Adam Nicol who fractured his arm in a bad fall on Boxing Day.
He would have been cheering on from his sofa as Dowson cruised into the race up the long Doncaster straight before a bad jump from La Bague Au Roi let in Happy Diva and 11-4 shot Lady Buttons.
Over the last, all three were in with a shout but with her crown on the line, Lady Buttons fought hardest and got up in the shadows of the post.
Kirby’s first thoughts were for his sidelined stable jockey.
He said: “She is amazing for us, she’s been great but it’s such a shame for Adam. Tommy did great there but my thoughts are with Adam.
“That was a proper race and if she came back in one piece today I would have been pleased enough.
“We’ve been trying to ride her like that for a while now and she just keeps getting there. Whether the cheekpieces help with that, I don’t know.
“They were serious horses around her there and she’s just a star to go and do that.”
Wow – a thriller up at Doncaster as Queen of the North Lady Buttons leaves it late to win the feature
@PKirbyRacing has some mare in his yard
pic.twitter.com/XSCkSvhVZ3
— Sun Racing (@SunRacing) December 29, 2019
