While his Liverpool FC owners could only grab a 2-2 draw at Fulham in their opening Premier League game of the season, Mr McCann (10-3) did score a narrow victory back on Merseyside at Haydock Park.
Trained by Hugo Palmer at former Reds' striker Michael Owen's Manor House Stables in Cheshire, the three-year-old was back in the winner's enclosure at Haydock when landing the Betfred ‘Play Fred’s 5 Million’ Handicap, minutes after Jurgen Klopp's side had finished their opening Premier League game of the season.
Owned by the AJT Group – made up of current Liverpool players Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Milner, Andy Robertson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as well as former Red Adam Lallana – Mr McCann scored in the one-mile contest under Tom Marquand in good style.
The three-year-old Kodiac gelding won three times last year, including at Haydock. But stepped up to Listed level and up in trip at Chester on his return he disappointed and was again down the field in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.
While Reds skipper Henderson saw an injury-time effort crash back off the bar to deny a victory, Mr McCann – named after Liverpool's press officer Matt McCann – battled to victory. He led for much of the race and then when challenged he just prevailed by half-a-length from Dutch Decoy (8-1). Electrical Storm (13-8) was the same distance back in third.
Marquand said: "Obviously he’s won here before and as ever with Haydock, when you go forward you can just get that bit of a fill up and he was tough as he got headed at one point and had to really fight back.
"He’s a nice horse and it was a really game performance, it’s Hugo’s local track now so any winner here is more than welcome!
"He had a couple of tough tasks and they were justified off what he’d done, but he can come down into this kind of level and really knock around competitively. He’s going to be a fun horse but it’s tough bridging that gap to the next level, who knows he might get there but this is him for now."
Marquand is not a football fan, but he was happy to give his famous owners a win to ease their frustration at Fulham.
He added: “I’m not a big football fan but apparently Liverpool haven’t had too great a result today, I’ve been watching it in the weighing room and at least they’ve had a winner now!”
The Ralph Beckett-trained Delorean (9-2) grabbed a first career victory in the opener, the Betfred Nifty Fifty Handicap.
The three-year-old gelding has run with promise on his three starts, having been runner-up at Newbury in the autumn and third at both Newcastle and Chelmsford.
But on his handicap debut, he got off the mark under Pat Dobbs. Delorean was always travelling well off the pace and when he came through he got the better of a battle with Nuvolari (9-2), scoring by a neck. Alvediston (18-1) was a further two-and-a-quarter lengths back in third.
Winning jockey Dobbs said: "I thought between the three and two (furlongs) I was going to win easy. But he just lengthens, he quickens but he hasn't got a turn of foot. They went a good, even gallop which helped.
"He doesn't do a lot. I was happy when I had one on either side which helped him along. Without he had one on his right he just ran away a bit."
Samuel Spade (18-1) came from last to first to win the Betfred ‘Passionate About Sport’ Handicap.
