Photo-finish drama for Brian Ellison pair with £125.30 forecast dividend

Two stalwarts of the Brian Ellison Racing Club were involved in a head-bobbing photo-finish in the 2m1f handicap hurdle to return a whopping forecast dividend of £125.30.

Both were relatively unfancied in the six-runner field and it looked as though 13-2 topweight Snookered had done enough to secure a fourth course win before 20-1 stablemate Lucky Robin, under a feather weight of 10st and 2lb out of the handicap, surged home late under Sam Coltherd to score by a nose.

James McLeod, one of the members of the North Yorkshire-based trainer’s racing club cheering the pair home in the parade ring, said: "It’s fantastic. There’s 26 of us here and some of us were hoping it would be a dead-heat."

McLeod did not have a bet on the race and is pleased just to be part of the club. "I joined in late 2017 and we’ve had a lot of winners, particularly Snookered and Lucky Robin. It’s been a very successful club. Everybody's very friendly and we have a good time," he said.

Lucky Robin (red cap) and Snookered battle it out on their way to a big-priced 1-2Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The club’s day got better still in the next race when Instant Replay, ridden by Brian Hughes, scored a sixth course win in the 2m5f handicap chase on potentially his final start for the ownership group.

Ellison said: "He loves it round here but he’s heading to the sales next week. We’ll see what he makes and if he doesn’t make enough we won’t sell him."

Hughes hits 50

Instant Replay was the middle leg of a treble for Brian Hughes, who reached 50 winners for the season.

The former champion jockey overturned two odds-on favourites as he guided the Nicky Richards-trained Glorious Spirit to a comfortable success in the 2m4f mares’ novice hurdle and took the 2m4f novice hurdle on October Storm for Donald McCain.

Brian Hughes on the way to the middle leg of his treble on Instant Replay (2)Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

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