Newcastle United skipper Alan Shearer made the trip to Catterick yesterday and saw Log On Intersky, in whom he has a share, secure a hat-trick in impressive fashion for jockey Graham Lee in the North Yorkshire Handicap Chase.
Lee was also successful on Calatagan, another shrewd purchase by Malton trainer Malcolm Jefferson, in the first division of the Ellerton Juvenile Novices' Hurdle, and Wilf Storey's Copplestone in the Scorton Selling Handicap Hurdle.
Log On Intersky carries the colours of the Interskyracingcom syndicate, who also own Champion Hurdle hope Intersky Flacon, and the former's Crook-based trainer Howard Johnson, who is enjoying a purple patch, enthused: "Log On Intersky has had wind problems but we have got him right now.
"It is great for his owners, they are a great bunch and they have been very patient. His jumping is electric, Graham said he has never sat on a horse which jumped like that."
Jefferson said of Calatagan: "I saw him walking past my house when he was with Julie Camacho and I thought he was a nice size and would jump a hurdle and make a dual-purpose horse.
"So I bought him privately and rang John Davenport and his wife, who are two of my best owners, and said I had a horse for them. They wondered what they had done when he finished down the field on the Flat at Musselburgh, but he pulled hard there."
Storey trains Copplestone for Thornaby owner 'Brad' Bradshaw and they had a bonus when they retained the six-year-old without a bid.
Constable Burton, near Leyburn, trainer Ann Swinbank enjoyed a welcome change of luck when Charming Admiral won the Teesside Handicap Chase in the hands of Michael Naughton and her husband George is hoping it signals a revival in the stable's fortunes. George heaved a sigh of relief and said: "It has been a nightmare, our horses have had a fungus on their lungs.
"This is our first winner since the spring last year. We had a good start to that season but things started to go wrong in the May and it took us a year to get the problem sorted out - and then of course it was like starting from scratch again in the summer.
"But despite all that it is very encouraging that we have nearly 40 horses in now. People have been buying yearlings and new owners have come into the yard."
Alan Swinbank sent out his second winner in three days when the ex-Lynda Ramsden-trained Far Pavilions took the second division of the novice hurdle in the hands of J P McNamara.
Florida Rain, whose 40-day ban from running imposed following an inquiry into his performance at Wetherby on November 2 was overturned on appeal, upset the well-backed odds-on chance Another Dude in the Streetlam National Hunt Novices' Hurdle.
Mary Reveley's six-year-old finished 13th behind Jaboune at Wetherby and the stewards decided he had not been ridden to obtain the best possible placing and imposed a fine of £2,200 on the Saltburn trainer, suspending jockey Barry Walsh for five days.
However, Mrs Reveley launched a successful appeal against her fine and the ban on Florida Rain, but Walsh's suspension stood.
Richard Fahey and Padge Whelan teamed up to take the concluding Richmondshire Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle with the 20-1 chance Dene View who carries the colours of Charlie Stevens.
Her husband George said of Florida Rain: "That was better than last time, he liked the better ground today and he likes this track."
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