OWNER John Fretwell was in no mood to leave Catterick empty-handed yesterday and sure enough his two runners, Fictional and Out Of Mind, both won.
The Mansfield-based businessman was confident of bold show from his brace of two-year-olds, particularly Out Of Mind in the Nursery Handicap.
"I spotted this race about five weeks ago for Out Of Mind, he's a bit of a short-runner and so the sharp five furlongs was always going to be ideal for him," said a delighted Fretwell.
Winning trainer Bryan McMahon was not on hand to welcome back his 12-1 double, instead concentrating on purchasing some new yearlings at the Doncaster St Leger Sales.
"I've got a total of ten two-year-olds with Bryan at present, but although we've had a few placed these were the first two to win," added the winning owner, who despite being involved with horses since 1978 had never previously enjoyed a double.
Up-and-coming 7lb apprentice Patrick "P P" Mathers once again proved he is a future star-of-the-saddle with a cool ride aboard the 9-1 shot H Harrison in the catterickbridge.co.uk Handicap.
H Harrison had only previously won one of his 23 lifetime starts, gaining an arguably unwarranted reputation for saving a bit for himself. Mathers opted to produce his mount at the last possible moment and the ploy worked to perfection as the combination swooped inside the final 50 yards of the seven-furlong contest to collar the long time leader Brecongill Lad.
The course is not particularly well known for big hitters in the betting ring, none the less there was one wager of £20,000 to win £10,000 recorded on John Dunlop's Arundel raider Pershaan, the facile winner of the mile-and-half Maiden Stakes.
Tim Easterby's grey Silver Coin was the only Yorkshire-trained scorer on the card, springing a 14-1 surprise by running away with the weakly-contested closing mile-and-three-quarter goracing.co.uk Handicap.
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