Chepstow’s flat season may have ended but Monmouthshire trainers are showing no signs of slowing down with Grace Harris and Christopher Mason were among the handlers to enjoy success last week.
It has been a fine summer for the pair and Harris advertised the capability of her Shirenewton stable at Bath on Saturday, when Macarone just got up to win a 5½f handicap.
Successful at Ffos Las two weeks ago, he possessed obvious claims, but faced seven rivals in what looked, and turned out to be, a competitive handicap. Sent off a 6-1 chance under Ben Ffrench Davis, Macarone was in touch, but dropped to last two furlongs out.
However, he was still travelling powerfully and just needed a gap to appear. When it did, the five-year-old shot clear to provide Harris with her 20th winner of the term, while the trainer also took heart from the second of Over Spiced under champion jockey Oisin Murphy at Goodwood earlier in the week.
Those winners represent a personal-best for Harris and Mason is closing in on his finest season as well.
He moved on to the 13-winner mark at Sandown on Friday thanks to the efforts of the admirable On Edge.
The son of Mayson was bred by the trainer and was having his 34th start and was chasing his ninth victory. Prominent, he came under pressure when Asley Lewis had to get serious two furlongs from home. To his credit, On Edge responded and soon made headway before running on to lead in the last 110 yards.
Gina Mangan is normally on the eight-year-old, but Lewis, who has ridden six winners for the aforementioned Harris, was partnering his first for the Caerwent-based Mason.
Thomas Faulkner, who also trains near Chepstow, had an interesting runner at Doncaster last week when Serious Look lined up in the Leger Legends race.
The contest is for retired jockeys and Frankie Dettori was meant to take part, but was hurt in a car crash this summer, so sat it out. Faulkner had the assistance of the Haverfordwest-born Richard Patrick, the former jump jockey who quit the saddle in April.
In Serious Look, he had a partner who goes well on the all-weather, but might not be so good on turf and was a 66-1 shot for the mile contest.
Handy enough early, the outsider was outpaced when Patrick lost an iron, which meant the combination was unable to make any impression in a race won by Tolstoy, whose jockey Niall ‘Slippers’ Madden captured the Grand National on Numbersixvalverde in 2006.
The next racing in Wales comes on Monday 21st September when Ffos Las opens its doors for a flat meeting that starts 2.04pm and features seven races.
We are now just under a month away from the Dragonbet Welsh Racing Festival at Chepstow when more than £500,000 of prize money is on offer. It takes place from Friday 9th October to Sunday 11th October and full details are on the race day pages on this website.
