Everything gained for Queens Venture

QUEENS Venture, trained by Dan Skelton and ridden by Tristan Durrell, took Newton Abbot's feature race on Saturday, the Class 2 Aubrey Loze Memorial Handicap Hurdle, in a thrilling finish, getting up to beat longtime leader Luttrell Lad right on the line.

- BY DAVID HUCKER

Izzie Hill must have thought that she had done everything needed to win the £30,000 contest, getting some good jumps out of Luttrell Lad, but Queens Venture overcame a 9Ib rise in her rating for a wide-margin win at Stratford last time, coming with a late flourish to win by a short head.

The three-year-old Manyana Blue, who had twice been placed behind the useful Dignam, including over the course last month, took the field along at a good pace in the opening Devon Air Ambulance Mares’ Maiden Hurdle. She was 10 lengths clear with a circuit to go and, although Never Told Me, who was conceding 19lbs, narrowed the gap turning for home, Manyana Blue and Sam Twiston-Davies skipped over the last two hurdles to record an easy success.