ANY doubts about risking the arduous 222-mile journey from Adlestrop in Gloucestershire were dispelled when Newsplayer waltzed away with the feature race at Sedgefield yesterday.

Richard Johnson's mount jumped like a stag in the cantorindex.co.uk Handicap Chase, pulling 14 lengths clear of his toiling opponents in the two-mile contest.

"We used to try to hold him up, but it didn't work and going chasing has been the making of him," explained Gordon Clarkson, the representative of the winning trainer, Richard Phillips.

Alan Swinbank's Liberty Seeker caused a 25-1 upset in the opening Novices' Hurdle when turning over the mount of champion jockey Tony McCoy, Zibeline, who went off a well-backed even money favourite.

Liberty Seeker jumped with exceptional fluency for a newcomer to the winter game, pinging most of his hurdles under a confident ride from Padge Whelan.

"We needed that, having lost two horses, Ryan's Mistake and During The Night, to fatal accidents over the past few days," said Swinbank.

"Liberty Seeker was bought out of Mick Channon's yard, and despite running a couple of good races for us on the level, we never really found his right trip on the flat.

"He's a lovely horse who appreciated the good ground. I took the precaution of coming up here on Sunday to walk the track and thought they had done a good job with the watering," added the successful handler.

Mighty Fine's love affair with the course continued when the big grey gelding romped away with the two-mile-five-furlong Handicap Hurdle.

It was Mighty Fine's fourth win at the track, although the first he has registered over the smaller obstacles. "He didn't jump his fences so well last time out so jockey Kenny Johnson recommended we give him a sharpener over hurdles," said Arthur Slack, husband of winning trainer Evelyn Slack.

Ferdy Murphy's powerful East Witton yard has yet to unleash any of its major ammunition, but that didn't stop Urban Hymn putting in a virtually fault free round to take the Cantor Sport Beginners Chase with embarrassing ease.

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