HUTTON RUDBY'S Scot Cunningham heaved a sigh of relief as he watched Playful Dane, who he trains for his mother and father-in-law Ann and David Bell, win the amateur riders' maiden handicap under Michael Campbell at Redcar.

And a delighted Cunningham said: "It is a long time since we have been in the winner's enclosure, this must be our first for two seasons.

"We have had this race in mind for a while and we took him up to Hamilton hoping he would run well in a classified stakes and go up the ratings a bit to enable him to get in.

"He went up 5lb in fact so it did the trick and it is nice for Michael, it is his first winner and having been with Charlie Swan he is now with the Heather Dalton stable."

Mark Wallace broke new ground and kept his 100 per cent record with his two-year-olds when Firebelly justified favouritism on her racecourse debut in the European Breeders Fund Median Auction Maiden Fillies' Stakes.

Firebelly, Wallace's first runner on the course started favourite and with Kevin Darley on board she stuck to her task gamely to open her account at the first attempt.

Her Newmarket trainer said: "We have run four two-year-olds and they have all won now - mind you we have 23 or 24 in all and I don't suppose we will be able to keep that record up."

Darley completed a double on Tim Easterby's Raphael in the seven furlong classified stakes before heading for Sandown's evening meeting.

Malton trainer Nigel Tinkler teamed up with his wife Kim to take the Levy Board Handicap withApache Point, and he said afterwards: "He is a nice horse isn't he? Mind you they all are when they win!"

Altitude Dancer, formerly trained by Mark Johnston, kept up Brian Ellison's good run when showing the way home under apprentice Tony Hamilton in the redcarracing.co.uk maiden handicap.

Ellison, who is also based at Malton, said: "The horse's owner Jim Cotterill decided to send him to me to go jumping.

"But there is nothing really for him until August so we decided to give him a spin on the Flat."

Jim Goldie has his horses in top form too and River Falcon gave him his fifth success, including two over jumps, since Friday when Tony Culhane kept the gelding well away from trouble to win the Carlsberg Export Lager Sprint Stakes.