Diligent Harry is Chipchase hero for Clive Cox and Saffie Osborne

Clive Cox was thrilled to see his high-class sprinter Diligent Harry bounce back to his best with a front-running victory in the JenningsBet Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle.

Placed at Group One level in the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai last year, the seven-year-old had failed to recapture that form in four previous outings this season, most recently finishing fifth on All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Newcastle on Good Friday.

The seven-year-old was a 16-1 shot on his return from over two months off and after a fast start, Diligent Harry quickly built up a significant lead over the chasing back and found more once challenged by Annaf to claimed the Group Three prize by a neck under an excellent ride from Saffie Osborne.

Lambourn-based Cox did not make the long trip north to Gosforth Park, but was in jubilant mood when contacted: “That was brilliant, Saffie has been in to ride him in his last couple of bits of work and it’s great when a plan comes together.

“He went to Dubai last year and ran a great race in the Group One there, but it’s tough at the top.

“We always live in hope, he loves the all-weather and he’s still pretty good, so today was a big target and to go all the way up to Newcastle and win a race like that is very satisfying.

“He’s won a Group Three now and we’ll place him accordingly.”

Osborne added: “Clive was really positive about his chances. I started going to Clive’s a couple of months ago, I rode this horse for the last couple of weeks and he’s a seriously classy horse.

“He’s a horse that was third in a Group One, he jumped out of the stalls today and Clive was keen for me not to wrestle him, so I was quite happy to let him slide on.

“I was able to get a breather into him and I always felt I was holding on to enough. He’s seriously tough and as soon as he felt the other horse coming to his girth he was always pulling out a bit more.”