Gordon Brown – Race Reporter
Gordon has a wealth of experience of racing through his background in the written and broadcast media. His current principle role is reporting and supporting the scene in Scotland on Racing TV and relaying the latest news with Scottish angles.
Magna Sam sprung a 22-1 upset in the bet365 Edinburgh National Handicap Chase at Musselburgh under Alex Edwards.
A first runner at the track for Shropshire-based Alistair Ralph, he powered home over four-lengths clear of last year’s hero Captain Cattistock.
“He is now 3-3 at the course and I’ve now won on both my rides here,” said delighted winning jockey Alex Edwards. “He gave me a lovely spin all the way round and it was a great training performance as he hadn’t run for 265 days prior to this.
“My other win here came as an amateur and this success today is up there with my Cheltenham and Aintree hunter chases wins.”
Notlongtillmay was an impressive winner of the Frodon Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase under dual champion Brian Hughes.
Winning trainer Laura Morgan, now just one shy of last term’s best tally of 34, said: “He’s done that very well so we’ll look at something at Aintree or Ayr for him in the spring now. He kept on straight as an arrow out there and he’s a lovely horse with a bright future.”
Lucinda Russell’s Inis Orr could be heading for Cheltenham next month after his last-gasp nose success under Derek Fox in the Scottish Stayers’ Novices’ Hurdle.
“We’ve been making th running with him but we dropped him in this time and he seemed to enjoy it,” Russell said. “He’s in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle so we might just go there as Derek said he thought it wasn’t as close a photo finish as it turned out to be today.”
Ewan Whillans was another Scottish trainer on the mark when Scots Poet took the bet365 Handicap Hurdle under Craig Nichol.