Saturday 17 July 2021 14:45, UK
Stonific made light of a lengthy break from hurdling to take the £35,000 Betway Summer Handicap Hurdle at Market Rasen.
Trained by David O'Meara and campaigned on the Flat since February 2020, the eight-year-old had been successful three times on the level during his jumping sabbatical and showed no signs of rustiness under the National Hunt code.
Starting at 40-1 under Tom Scudamore, the bay battled past his rivals in a tight run in to the line to prevail by a head from Emma Lavelle's Hang In There.
"I just wish David had a few more jumpers after that, he's got enough Flat horses," smiled Scudamore said after the performance.
"It's been too long (in front of a crowd) for obvious reasons, but it's lovely to see everybody and for a syndicate like this, there's plenty of stories and it doesn't take much to get involved."
"He was very tough there and it's nice to get a winner for David and the owners."
