HAMPSHIRE trainer Ralph Beckett enjoys an enviable record with mares and fillies and it was highly significant he persuaded connections not to retire Isabel de Urbina at the end of the 2017 season.

Tall and angular, she was so palpably backward that he was restricted to running her just once, albeit a successful venture, as a juvenile, and as a three-year-old she ran well in the Oaks but once her form tailed off, the owners and breeders Meriebelle Irish Farm were tempted to send her to the paddocks.

But Beckett believed her best days were in front of her and his judgement was vindicated at Goodwood when she came with a sweeping late run to deny top weight Titi Makfi in the 12 furlong listed race.

"I always thought she was a work in progress," he explained. "It wasn't a bad effort in the Oaks but the owners were thinking of retiring her rather than carry on when her form just went off at the back end. It wasn't a big surprise she won, she's a bigger and stronger filly who is only now coming to herself now."

The Kimpton Down trainer has a list of options available but will probably sent her for the newly installed group three Bronte Cup at York this month with a return trip to Goodwood for the Lilly Langtry Stakes at the festival meeting.

It was a good day for the fervent Leeds United fan who netted a hat trick and almost £50,000 on the day, the treble completed by Taurean Star and Victory Chime in the seven and 10 furlong handicaps.

The former had been desperately unlucky when hampered on his seasonal reappearance at Newmarket and the racing gods seemed to have it for him again when handing him the wide draw. So jockey Harry Bentley was faced with a choice - burst him out of the stalls to make the running or tuck him away in the hope of a searching gallop.

He chose the latter with perfect effect. The leaders went off at a furious pace and paid for their exertions two out, leaving Taurean Star to slip through the congestion and grab Summer Icon, trained by former Saint Mick Channon, close home. He will now be aimed at the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket in July.

Another successful Hampshire trainer was John Bridger, a useful boxer in his younger days, who - much to his surprise - floored the opposition with Pettochside in the five furlong handicap. Bridger was so pessimistic before the race he would have put anyone off backing him.

"I never thought he had a chance," he remarked, referring to the hike of 66 to 91 in his rating, but the sprinter, so demure at home he allows the owner's young grand daughter to plait him, has an enduring love affair with the track. In 14 runs, he has won five times, been placed second on four occasions, and finished third in three others.

Bridger is unsure why, his only notion that his horsebox only takes half an hour to reach the course. "He was in the paddock this morning and he will be in the paddock tomorrow morning."