Jumps queen Curtis lands a rare winner on flat at Ffos Las

REBECCA Curtis had a productive time over jumps last season and bagged a rare flat winner at Ffos Las last week, when Berkshire Smudge emerged on top in a 1m2f handicap.

- With JAMES BURN

Curtis is a well-known figure in the sport, but her profile had dipped in the last few years. However, Haiti Couleurs put her back in the spotlight by winning at the Cheltenham Festival and he also followed up in the Irish Grand National.

Based in Pembrokeshire, she had reason to smile again on Friday as Berkshire Smudge ran out a narrow 18-1 winner.

Formerly trained by Andrew Balding, the three-year-old was switched to Curtis’ yard over the summer and was fifth on his debut for the trainer at Ffos Las in August.

By scoring, he was providing Curtis with her first winner on the Flat since 2017, albeit she had not had many runners in the interim.

Thomas Faulkner, who trains in Monmouthshire, also enjoyed a winner at Ffos Las on Friday with Fifty Sent doing the business in the classi-

fied stakes.

An ambitious individual, Faulkner has been ticking along nicely this season and the gelding, who was also on the mark at Southwell earlier in the year, was his 11th winner of the campaign.