Mcdonald lovin’ it at Musselburgh to land double
● Thomson’s short-priced pair land the odds for in-form jockey while Beyond The Clouds roars home in novice chase
Jockey Rachael Mcdonald kept her good run going with a short-priced double on Musselburgh’s opening jumps card of the autumn yesterday.
Despite being briefly headed two out, John Williams fought back to win going away by two lengths from Muwalla in the 100% Of Racinguk Profits Returned To Racing Handicap Chase.
The 15-8 winner was following up a recent strike at Hexham, and Mcdonald said: “He’s in good form at the moment. After we got headed, he rallied really gamely and quickened nicely.”
Well-backed 11-8 favourite Blue Kascade, also trained by Sandy Thomson, made all to complete Mcdonald’s double in the Finest Collection Of Racing On Racinguk Handicao Chase.
Beyond The Clouds was the most impressive winner of the day as he slammed Golden Jeffrey by eight lengths in the Bet At Racinguk.com Novices’ Handicap Chase.
Winning jockey Brian Hughes said: “He’s obviously quite useful and needed his run at Kelso last month. I think he could be quite a decent type for the spring in some of the better races.”
Lucinda Russell and Derek Fox teamed up to land the Never Miss A Race On Racinguk Handicap Hurdle with Superior Command.
“Most of our horses have needed their first run,” Russell said. “He ran a fantastic race when fourth at Kelso and has clearly improved on that here.”
Meanwhile, jockeys at Kelso’s Remembrance meeting on Saturday will wear a specially designed armband featuring the poppy emblem. There will also be a minute’s silence at 11am, before the first race which is scheduled for 12.15pm.
The first race includes the recent Kelso winner Coole Hall, trained by Rose Dobbin. He could be pitted against Senor Lombardy, Keith Dalgleish’s £125,000 purchase who won at Hexham last month, having been denied at odds of 1-3 on at Kelso on his seasonal debut.
The fourth race usually produces strong form despite relatively slim fields. Last year’s third, Stuart Coltherd’s Captain Redbeard, went on to win twice following his run at Kelso. He could be back on Saturday in an attempt to go two places better in the £10,000 Frank Flannigan Skiphire & Border Skiphire Handicap Steeplechase. He’ll face strong opposition from the multiple course winner Sudski Star, trained by Harriet Graham for course director Geoff Adam. ● Ayr has for the third year in a row been voted in the top six large racecourses in the UK for owners and awarded the Racehorse Owners Association Gold Standard for 2017.
The six large courses awarded Gold Standard were Ayr, Ascot, Chester, Haydock Park, Cheltenham and York – all six also received the award last year and Ayr has now been awarded the accolade every year since its inception in 2015.
Hamilton Park and Musselburgh were named among the top six small racecourses.
Classification is decided by a range of factors, including the quality of racing and attendance figures.