CARTMEL JOCKEYS CHALLENGE

Championship and he is off to a flier again this year and with the experience of his first century of winners can be expected to maintain his challenge throughout the season

Line Of Descent gave him his first success of the evening when running out a seven lengths winner in the Champagne Louis Roederer Handicap Chase before the well-backed Post No Bills took the MUV Novices Limited Handicap, sticking on gamely to hold off Grey Skies up the long run-in. Hughes was on board Grey Skies, his second runner-up of the evening after Idealdes Villerets had been touched off by a neck by Special Rate and Thomas Dowson after trying to make all the running in the Racing Welfare Novices Hurdle His four points meant that Hughes was the only jockey to have scored points at all three days of racing this season

Sean Bowen followed up his seven-points haul on Spring Bank Holiday Monday with a double from just three rides on the Wednesday to shoot to the top of the Cartmel Jockeys Challenge title with a two point lead over Brian Hughes

Bowen, who rode his first winner at Cartmel, had his best ever season last year when he finished runner-up to Hughes in the race for the Jockeys

Richie McLernon has struck up a great partnership with Ben Haslam and is on the heels of the leaders with 10 points, while defending champion Charlotte Jones, who is bidding for a third successive title, is off and running albeit some way off the pace.

Jockey Pts

Cartmel Trainers Challenge

further runners over the next two days. McCain and local trainer James Moffatt are the only winners of the Challenge since it began 11 years ago

Milton Harris, who has made a brilliant return to the training ranks in the last couple of years, got his first points on the board in style with a first and last race 37.5-1 double through Appreciate in the Campbell and Rowley Conditional Jockeys Handicap and Pyramid Place in the Hales Of Cartmel Handicap Hurdle

His seven point haul on the day was matched by Philip Kirby, whose win with Special Rate in the Racing Welfare Novices Hurdle was supported by a couple of second places leaving him musing ‘it’s been a good night, but it could have been so much better!”

Middleham trainer Ben Haslam and perennial winner Donald McCain completed the opening May Bank Holiday meeting in joint top spot in the Cartmel Trainers Challenge after they both collected four points on the third and final day. With a 10-points haul, they edged ahead of Irish trainer John McConnell, who had led following his opening day nine points salvo only to have no

Harris and Kirby now share fourth place with George Bewley, who wasn’t able to add to his points haul from the first two days, just ahead of Sam England Defending champion James Moffatt had a disappointing three days, but did open his points account when Yukon deadheated for second place behind Appreciate and City Vaults picked up third behind Special Rate.