Chris Mason chose his moment to perfection. The Monmouth trainer landed the biggest win of his career at Ascot on Saturday while the eyes of the racing world were focused on the Berkshire venue.
On a day headlined by Kalpana’s victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Mason got in on the act by landing the concluding £60,000 five furlong handicap with All Ways Glamorous.
It was a step up in grade for the five-year-old, who was last seen blitzing his field in a Ffos Las handicap. But he took it in his stride, adopting his usual front-running tactics and leaving his rivals toiling as he held on to claim victory by half-a-length under regular jockey Gina Mangan.
Mason clearly has a knack with sprinters. All his 44 runners this calendar year have been over either five or six furlongs. Of those 44, he has recorded 11 winners at an excellent strike rate of 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the father and son combination of John and Rhys Flint (photographed) broke new ground at Chepstow’s meeting on Friday. The pair, who train in Kenfig Hill near Bridgend, banked their first treble since teaming up on the licence two years ago.
And in doing so they edged out David Evans 3-2 in the battle of Welsh trainers as the home team dominated the evening meeting.
The Flints got the ball rolling courtesy of Auburn Avenue in a seven-furlong handicap.
The five-year-old was well in arrears at halfway, but made up ground at a rapid rate before taking the lead in the final 100 yards and pulling away to win by two lengths under Charles Bishop, who was himself registering a double.
Spirit of the Bay made it two for the flying Flints when running out a length winner of a one-mile contest. And they rounded out the evening in style, taking the finale with Crimson Road who held off the challenge of Midnight Media in a 10-furlong event.
Evans, meanwhile, struck with two favourites. Knightmare finally got his head in front – he had finished second in his previous three outings – in a mile event, before Level Up won the sprint handicap. He had also filled the runner-up spot in his last three starts.
The double took Evans on to 20 winners for the current flat season.
David Probert is a regular visitor to the Chester winner’s enclosure, and he repeated the trick again on Saturday with a double. He started a profitable day by taking a seven-furlong maiden on board Velociraptor.
Hugo Palmer’s two-year-old had shown immense promise on his debut at Newmarket’s July meeting when finishing a close-up third behind runners from the Coolmore and
Godolphin operations.
And he put that experience to good use on the Roodee, with Probert pushing him out for a length success over main market rival Storm Blade.
His second success came when conjuring a late challenge out of Maharajas Express to take a five-furlong handicap.
Probert was also on the mark at Newbury in midweek when winning a 12-furlong handicap on Sarangpur. It has been a productive spell for Wales’ top flat jockey, who has ridden nine winners in the past fortnight.
A fine weekend for the Welsh continued at Uttoxeter on Sunday.
It began when James Davies won a mares’ hurdle on board Northern Rose. But arguably the highlight of the afternoon came when Debra Hamer’s Hold Your Fort – the 16-1 outsider in a field of seven – landed the feature three-mile handicap chase to bag a first prize of almost £12,000.
It was Hold Your Fort’s eighth career success, while Hamer – whose yard is based just a few miles from Ffos Las – was saddling her first winner of the jumps season.
David Evans will be hoping to carry his red-hot form from Chepstow to Ffos Las on Tuesday evening (July 28) where admission is free of charge if you book in advance.
Evans has two runners engaged at the Carmarthenshire course. One of the pair is Knightmare, who won at Chepstow last week. Evans is turning him out again quickly in a one-mile event, with Ryan Kavanagh claiming three pounds.
Grace Harris, whose fine summer continues, has two chances of success in the concluding six-furlong handicap as she runs both Macarone and Symbol Of Hope.
The feature event is the Christian Holland/Ken Howell Sports Betting Maiden Fillies' Stakes, a Class 3 contest run over 12 furlongs. The four-runner affair has attracted entries from the powerful yards of Roger Teal, Karl Burke, Ralph Beckett and Roger Varian.
The six-race card gets under way at 6pm.
