Wednesday 11 November 2015 17:23, UK
News from the meeting at Bangor where It'safreebee landed some hefty bets ahead of a trip to the sales ring on Friday.
Leading Irish jockey Jonathan Burke made his first visit to Bangor a successful one as Its'afreebee landed some hefty bets in the Broncroft Novices' Hurdle.
Trained in County Kildare by Mark Fahey, Its'afreebee arrived in Wrexham with some solid bumper form having won at Bellewstown in the summer before chasing home the talented Fugi Mountain at the Listowel Festival in September.
Sent off a well-backed 15-8 favourite, the five-year-old was positively ridden by Burke and kicked clear from the home turn to seal a comprehensive eight-length success over Itshard To No.
It was a timely success for the winner, who is set for an imminent appearance in the sales ring.
Fahey said: "We're delighted and he did what we expected him to do. He's improved with every run and we knew he'd come on since his run in the winner's bumper in Listowel.
"He's in the sales in Cheltenham on Friday and that's where he's heading now. We might lose him, but that's the game we're in and hopefully he can go on and do well."
He added: "I've had the (training) licence three years and that's my third winner in Britain. I've had 10 winners in Ireland but mainly deal in buying and selling point-to-pointers."
Burke said: "It was my first time at Bangor and I really enjoyed it. All the people there were very helpful and friendly and the horse was very impressive.
"Mark was pretty hopeful, but I don't think he expected him to be as impressive as he was. His jumping was great, which is always nice coming from bumpers and hopefully he's a nice horse for the future."
The most valuable race of the afternoon was the £25,000 Anne Duchess of Westminster Memorial Handicap Chase, in which the Dan Skelton-trained What A Good Night knuckled down to beat 11-4 favourite Algernon Pazham by a neck.
The 9-1 shot was not wining out of turn, having thrown away almost certain victory when falling at the final fence at Stratford a fortnight ago.
Skelton said: "He was unlucky last time but today was another day and it was a good prize to win. He had a tough battle with the second horse and it was great to see him come out on top.
"My plan was always to take him to Newcastle at the end of the month for the Rehearsal Chase, but we might just wait with him now and wait for the Rowland Meyrick at Wetherby on Boxing Day."
Trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell combined to land the first two races of the afternoon.
Uhlan Bute (11-4 favourite) jumped and galloped his rivals silly in the opening Friends of the Animal Health Trust Handicap Chase, while 6-1 shot John Louis got the better of a protracted duel with Dartford Warbler to claim victory in the Rea Valley Tractors Sir John Hanmer Novices' Limited Handicap Chase.
Foxcub bounced back to form to win the Spurling Supporting The AHT Handicap Hurdle for the second year in succession for trainer Tom Symonds.
The 6-1 chance failed to fire in two subsequent starts last season and was unable to land a serious blow on his Fontwell comeback, but dominated these rivals by 22 lengths under James Davies.
Symonds said: "That's a really good result and it's great for James, who has been riding almost exclusively for us this season.
"The horse was never at the races at Fontwell last time and the ground is the polar opposite today, so maybe that's helped him.
"The plan was always to go novice chasing this season and all he schools over at home is fences. He could go chasing now, but we'll see what the handicapper does and make a plan from there."
Brian Ellison's Sikandar (2-1 favourite) eased clear in the Albert Bartlett Juvenile Maiden Hurdle, while the concluding bumper went to Jonjo O'Neill's newcomer and 5-4 favourite Compardre.
