David Egan off to the perfect start as Amo Racing jockey after winning Lincoln on 33-1 shot Mr Professor

TALK about making a good impression on your new boss.

David Egan bagged the William Hill Lincoln on 33-1 poke Mr Professor on his first big day as Amo Racing’s number one.

PADavid Egan made a great start to life with Amo Racing at Doncaster[/caption]

GettyKia Joorabchian hired David Egan as his jockey over the winter[/caption]

The horse spent most of last year running over further, but he had no trouble dropping back to a mile as he cruised home at Doncaster in the first big race of the Flat season.

No wonder nice guy Egan, 24, was wearing a grin as wide as Town Moor.

He replaced Kevin Stott as retained jockey for Amo, the racing operation of footy agent Kia Joorabchian, over the winter.

Joorabchian has an incredibly strong group of horses to run this summer, headed by Group 1 winner King Of Steel, but he also demands a lot from his riders.

So this was the perfect way for Egan to settle any nerves – for all there was drama at the start of the £150,000 race when defending champ Migration refused to leave the starting stalls.

Mr Professor had a smooth passage, though, and when he quickened up two furlongs out the race was done and dusted, with Lattam (16-1) running on late to grab second.

Egan smiled: “There were a couple of horses going forward around me and I got a nice gap to get in behind and got a nice tow into the race.

“He stays a mile and a quarter and I couldn’t believe how well he took me into the race, he travelled so powerfully.

“He is a strong horse and the team said as long as he settles early on he will have a good chance, but that change of gear was impressive.

“You don’t want to hit the front too early here but I knew once I asked him to quicken he was going to be able to sustain it all the way to the line.

“It’s a great start, Amo have loads of nice horses this season, King Of Steel being the obvious one, I can’t wait to ride him.

It was a good result, too, for Lambourn trainer Dominic Ffrench-Davis, who has been well-supported by Amo over the past 12 months.

He said: “It’s great to win this race, it’s the first big one of the season and these are the sorts of races you want to compete in.

“He joined us last year and progressed all the way through, hopefully he is still a horse on the up, though I’d say soft ground is pretty important to him.”

Earlier on the card, the William Haggas-trained Montassib swooped late to win the Listed Cammidge Stakes under Cieren Fallon Jr – who only returned from serious injury on Friday.

He suffered a nasty ankle and knee injury in a freak stalls incident at Newcastle back in November, while he will also ride freelance this year having parted company with Qatar Racing.

Fallon said: “I’m very lucky that I was looked after well at Oaksey House, they’ve spent a lot of hours with me.

“I took my time as I was off for four and a half months, I didn’t want to come back too soon, I wanted to make sure I was 100 per cent.

“I’ve been back riding out the last three weeks and William has put me on some quiet horses to give me some confidence that way.

“I had a spin yesterday and I feel great, I feel better than ever and I don’t feel like I’ve lost any race-sharpness at all.

“I’m in a really great position, I’m very lucky to be riding horses like this, this lad has loads of ability and could have a big season.”