A sign for the EFL Cup Final? Timber Twelve scores for divided connections before Wembley clash

Newmarket’s Sunday card served up a slice of Wembley-style drama when Timber Twelve, the 4-7 market leader in division one of the mile novice, powered home under Hector Crouch to give his split-loyalty ownership group an early taste of victory ahead of the EFL Cup Final.

The gelding carries the colours of Arsenal devotee Justin Dowley—who named the horse after Gunners full-back Jurrien Timber, shirt No 12—and is trained by Dowley’s Manchester City-supporting father-in-law, Michael Bell. The family alliance will be on opposite sides of the capital divide when the two Premier League giants meet at Wembley on Sunday.

“Justin is married to my daughter Amy and we may have come together successfully with Timber Twelve, but tomorrow we’ll be at loggerheads!” Bell laughed after watching his charge dictate from the front and hold off the pack in the one-mile heat.

The success earned the three-year-old a handicap mark, though Bell expects it to be lenient. “He wasn’t that far ahead of the second,” the trainer noted.

Earlier on the card, Andi “Oddjob” Brown celebrated his first winner of 2026 when 7-1 shot Mr Fustic, ridden by Dylan Hogan, snatched the mile handicap on the line from Volendam. Operating with a six-horse string from Southfields Stables while also running a pre-training operation and equine pool, Brown has been a low-profile presence on Hamilton Road since taking out a licence in 2013.

“Every winner is like winning the Derby for us,” said the former John Gosden work-rider, who specialises in rejuvenating cast-offs. “We do our best with horses that other people don’t want.”