Lee Westwood ‘in tears’ after he scoops £28,000 as rank 66-1 outsider horse Yorkhill stuns rivals to win at Newcastle

LEE WESTWOOD cried with joy while in quarantine at home as his rank 66-1 outsider Yorkhill won at Newcastle to earn him £28,000.

The golf legend ‘lost my voice shouting’ and admitted his heart beat faster than when standing over a crucial putt as his ten-year-old – the huge outsider of the field – won the Betfair Exchange Rehearsal Handicap Chase.

Two-time Cheltenham Festival winner Yorkhill stormed back to form after years on the wane, rewarding co-owners Westwood and David Armstrong for sending him to trainer Sandy Thomson after being given him by pal Graham Wylie.

And there was no holding back the celebrations of former world No 1 Westwood, a huge horse racing fan.

The Newcastle-based ace, 47, who didn’t reveal how much he won with a separate side bet on his horse, said: “Fifteen minutes down the road and I’m not allowed to go because I’m quarantining!

“That (win) was unbelievable, wasn’t it? I’ve lost my voice shouting.

“The trainer has done an incredible job.

“He’s a class horse and he never goes away. He just needed handling the right way. Showed some guts there.

“I don’t know what my heart rate went to but it went a lot higher than having to hole a putt!”

Yorkhill jumped brilliantly as Scottish jockey Ryan Mania led him home by a length and three-quarters from 9-4 shot Whatmore and Armstrong’s other runner, third-placed Cool Mix (7-1).

But this win was totally out of the blue – to say the least.

GROSSICK The Steadings Rockhallhead Collin DG1 4JW 07710461723 www.grossick.co.uk JOHN

Yorkhill was the rank 66-1 outsider of the field, with the next biggest outsider a mere 40-1[/caption]

Yorkhill had been pulled up in his previous two races and fell in his last race before that, in November last year.

His last win came at Galway in August 2019 but that was the only time the horse once regarded as a potential superstar had come in the top three before yesterday’s shock result.

And Westwood’s first reaction was an ecstatic tweet.

England’s ex-Ryder Cup star posted: “OMG!! Yorkhill!!!! @NewcastleRaces @captainnash @LambdenRacing Ryan Mania. Well done team. Crying and lost my voice shouting at the tv. Class is permanent!”

Westwood really knows his horses and memorably won £48,000 at Cheltenham when one huge bet came in.

AP:Associated Press

Westwood and fiancee Helen Storey landed a tasty pay day[/caption]

And he was back on the champagne last night as he continued to tweet his joy at the huge outsider winning.

The European Tour legend wrote to his 920,000 Twitter followers: “Yorkhill. Class is permanent. I’ll probably come round after a couple of glasses of champagne!”

Armstrong then tweeted a video of himself sipping a coffee and toasting Yorkhill – who had been pulled up twice and fell in its previous three starts.

Westy- who won £21,000 at Cheltenham in 2018 when another monster bet landed – replied: “You can stick your cup of coffee up your a***! I’m having champagne!!!”

The golfer admitted he was a bit ‘delicate’ on Sunday morning during an interview with Nick Luck on Racing TV.

He said: “I’m feeling a little delicate this morning. But it was incredible to watch him regain his former glory.

“I was in tears. I don’t often get emotional but certainly Yorkhill brought a tear to my eye.

“I lost my voice and it’s only just coming back this morning.

“I lost count of how many times I watched the replay. I somehow managed to record it and I keep watching the rewind of it.”

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