PAUL Hanagan delivered a first Carlisle Bell Handicap success for the trainer with whom he has renewed his partnership.

The 36-year-old Warrington-born jockey triumphed aboard 13/2 joint favourite Carnageo by half a length in the historic feature race of the Cumbrian course’s biggest day of flat action.

Hanagan, back in tandem with Richard Fahey based at Malton, delighted a trainer who said afterwards he had always wanted to win the Carlisle Bell – the world’s oldest sporting trophy still contested, dating back to 1599 and the reign of Elizabeth I.

The former Sir Thomas Boteler High School student credited a change of tactics for the success, with his mount wearing blinkers for the first time after a disappointing series of performances.

Hanagan, twice crowned champion flat jockey, said: “He’s lost concentration on his last few runs and I think the blinkers have done him the world of good. He’s a good horse and he was focussed.

“I’m pleased for the trainer and particularly the owners (The Up For Anything Syndicate) who’ve always been great with me.

“I’ve ridden the horse many times and I knew the ground would suit him.

“We didn’t go off too quickly and it was quite rough but when he got to the front he wasn’t being beaten.”

Hanagan’s five-year job as retained rider to leading owner Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum ended last November and he has since relocated, with wife Anna and their two boys, from Cambridgeshire to North Yorkshire to link-up closely again with Fahey, with whom he became the first northern-based rider to achieve back-to-back Champion jockey flat titles in 2010 and 2011.

He sent Warrington race fans into euphoria sevens years ago when, after a monumental season of 1,102 rides, 191 winners and a nail-biting finale, they were celebrating the first homegrown title winner since Steve Donoghue’s legendary reign between 1914 and 1922.

Hanagan, who hails from Latchford and was champion apprentice in 2002, achieved Group victories for Fahey aboard Wootton Bassett and Mayson.

He won seven Group One winners for Sheikh Hamdan, including the Oaks at Epsom and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot aboard Taghrooda in 2014.

And he enjoyed a treble at Group One level on champion sprinter Muhaarar in 2015.

At the time of writing, Hanagan was 14th in this season’s championship with 25 wins from 215 appearances and closing in on 1,800 successes from close to 14,000 career rides.