Jungle Drums held his nerve and dug deep to make all and land the Coral Rockingham Stakes at York for Karl Burke.
The Bungle Inthejungle colt had never raced on softer than good in his four starts before arriving at the Knavesmire for the opening Listed contest.
Sam James looked comfortable at the halfway mark, as Jungle Drums nudged ahead of Hugo Palmer’s It Ain’t Two.
The 20-1 shot battled gamely to keep his nose in front before ultimately stretching his lead, as he secured the third and biggest victory of his career by one and three-quarter lengths.
Jungle Drums makes the most noise to win the opening race on the card and land the Listed @Coral Rockingham Stakes under @samjock22 for @karl_burke 🏆🥁 pic.twitter.com/tFVEG1SrtC
— York Racecourse (@yorkracecourse) October 12, 2024
England cricketer Jonny Bairstow is a part of the juvenile’s owning syndicate Bronte Collection and was in attendance for the triumph.
He said: “What a load of heart, you could see the ground and everything like that. To do it like that, from that far out and to hold everything else off, is a great effort.
“It’s a good sport, I’ve grown up in York. I’m just on a day out with the family and some really close friends and it is even better that we have a couple of runners.
“I’ve been coming here since I was 16, maybe even younger, to be quite honest with you. It is always a great day out, come rain or shine people have a good time.”