Racegoers treated to good weather and great racing

A WELCOME sunny day greeted a large crowd on Exmoor for the Devon & Somerset point to point fixture at South Hill.

- REPORTS BY KIRSTY BOUTFLOWER

In stark contrast to previous meetings here, where racegoers battled rain and fog amidst rearrangements, a respectable 28 runners faced the starter - no doubt courtesy of some hard graft by an excellent team on the ground.

The formidable trainer-jockey combo of Luke Price and James King notched a double, while Jack Stenhouse narrowly denied his girlfriend’s younger sister her first winner in a thrilling Novice Riders contest.

Stenhouse may have had mixed emotions after capitalising on the runner-up’s one mistake at the last the drive Teecomponentsfly to victory by a head. Prior to that, the David Pipe-trained Side Ismael, under 16-year-old Mia Holmes, had given an exhibition round of jumping and looked certain to record her first winner.

Given that Stenhouse is dating Mia's sister Shannon, this result will probably be forgiven and this competent riding performance from Mia should be rewarded soon enough.

Stenhouse said: “I thought I was beaten but he’s so game and sticks his head down to battle. That’s my sixth winner now so it takes me out of the novice ranks but I couldn’t not ride this fella.”

Trainer Mike Vanstone added: “It was a case of Teescomponentsfly - flew.”