Aston Villa superfan with horse named after Jack Grealish just denied £25,000 winner at Glorious Goodwood

AN Aston Villa superfan with a horse named after Jack Grealish just missed out on a £25,000 winner at Goodwood on Friday.

Super Superjack ran in the opening race at 1.50.

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The five-year-old gelding had won owner Lee Turland more than £40,000 from 21 earlier career races – and pocketed him another £12,085 with a gutting second-place finish.

Super Superjack was backed off the boards to land the Villa fan his biggest win of all in the 2m4½f marathon contest today.

But the horse got going too late in the final furlong and was just denied by 14-1 winner Master Milliner.

Turland named the horse after the chant Villa supporters used to sing when the England star still played at their club.

Unfortunately for Turland, Grealish completed his record £100million move to Man City during the horse’s four-year-old campaign.

Once a horse has been named then it cannot be changed.

But that matters little now with so much cash on the line.

Punters really fancy the Milton Harris-trained runner’s chances after he was backed into 7-2 favouritism – but came up just short.

Speaking before the race, Harris said: “It’s a big day for Lee and he’s a massive Aston Villa fan.

“By the time Super Superjack was halfway through his four-year-old campaign, Grealish had been sold to Man City, but you can’t change the name, can you!

“It would be nice for Grealish to meet Lee and his equine namesake one day – there’s an open invite.

“The horse can be a little quirky at the finish, but he’s progressive and we’re pretty convinced he’ll enjoy the trip.

“His course form is a plus and I’m very hopeful he’ll be a big player.”

It’s common for an owner to name a horse after a footballer – there have been the likes of Captain Gerrard, Zlatan and Messi.

Less common are the likes of Christopher Wood – but even he has won seven of his 34 races and brought in more than £100,000 in earnings.

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