DAVID BASS and Kim Bailey bagged Lingfield’s biggest ever pot of Gold after a thrilling finish to the Fleur De Lys Chase.
On the final day of the inaugural ‘Winter Million’ fixture at the Surrey track, Bass lifted Two For Gold home in a three-way battle for the £150,000 contest.
Continuing a weekend of spine-tingling finishes, the 10-1 shot nailed hot favourite Dashel Drasher in the final strides, with classy veteran Bristol De Mai a close third.
The Winter Million – which offers up seven figures of prize-money across three days – is a bold new concept.
And the track were rewarded with a high-class field and a nail-biting finale in the meeting’s feature race.
The first three home were virtually in a line jumping the last, and 6-4 jolly Dashel Drasher edged into a narrow lead with the line in sight.
But Two For Gold stuck his neck out under a power-packed Bass to nick a huge pot in front of a big crowd.
Just 24 hours after First Flow watched Shishkin and Energumene gallop off into the distance at Ascot, it was a welcome boost for Bailey and his stable jockey.
Bailey said: “I said to my assistant this morning that we need a horse to rescue us this season and what is the chance of this happening today.
“First Flow ran a terrific race at Ascot and we were pleased with him, but it’s not nice getting beat in a big race like that.
“Two For Gold is a funny old horse. He is a quirky individual and he has given the owners a huge amount of fun.
“When they announced this race, we said straight away that this was the race we wanted to go for.
“He loves soft ground and this meeting has been abandoned enough times to work out it was going to be heavy ground, which would suit him.
“He has done his job for the season if that’s the case. We’ll find something else for him, but he is a tremendous horse.
“The race had a sad postscript, with Paul Nicholls’ classy chaser Master Tommytucker suffering a fatal injury after a fall three from home.
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