Trainer Ivan Furtado said he was surprised by the amount of support for his successful newcomer Alfa Blueburd at Ayr. The racecourse debutant, a half-brother to the stable's seven-time winner Alfa Whiteburd, was backed all the way down from 33-1 ahead of the six-furlong Menabrea Restricted Novice Stakes on Thursday.
Punters eventually sent Alfa Blueburd off the 2-1 joint favourite and he responded to Jason Hart's urgings to edge out experienced racer Sea Mirage by a nose. The result for owners Alfa Site Services came just two days after another stable newcomer Albatross The Ace landed a junior National Hunt Flat race at Huntingdon in the colours of Chris Djuric.
Trainer's surprise at market support
"We liked both horses and thought they would run well," Furtado told Mirror Racing. "That Alfa Blueburd went off the 2-1 favourite came as a surprise."
"He is a very good looking horse and I think once he hit the paddock people liked him. It doesn't take much to change the price these days and there wasn't really support for anything else."
"The owner has been patient, the horse ran green and we were a bit unsure about the ground. It was a great performance."
Debut win and jockey reaction
Alfa Blueburd was purchased for £5,000 at Goffs last year and the son of Persian Force was a first debut juvenile winner in six years for North Yorkshire-based Furtado. The front two pulled seven-and-a-half lengths clear of the third Muve On in the heavy conditions.
"I thought I'd won on the line," jockey Jason Hart told Racing TV. "He showed a really good attitude, he seemed to cope with the ground okay and I thought there would be plenty of improvement to come."
"Experience counts for a lot in maidens, so it was a nice performance. He was a bit green in the middle part of the race but I liked the way he knuckled down."
