'We put a few quid on' - 100-1 shot ends trainer's 4,607-day gap between wins in style

Trainer Alison Thorpe celebrated her first winner for more than 12 and a half years when Karuma Grey defied odds of 100-1 to make a successful stable debut in the 2m5½f novice handicap chase.

Thorpe’s last winner had been when Romanesco took a handicap chase at this track in May 2009, before she stopped training due to becoming disillusioned with the job that same month.

Romanesco’s winning rider Wayne Hutchinson and the beaten jockeys that day – Tony McCoy, Willy Twiston-Davies and Tom Scudamore – all retired from the saddle during Thorpe’s hiatus from the sport before she returned to the training ranks in September.

Karuma Grey was Thorpe’s 14th runner since her comeback and the rank outsider of the nine runners ended her 4,607-day gap between winners when scoring by three and three-quarter lengths from Hurricane Highway.

Alison Thorpe: trainer enjoyed her first winner since 2009Credit: David Dew

The Shane Fenelon-ridden winner was bought for £40,000 by Aled Evans in January and was moved to Carmarthenshire-based Thorpe by the owner after he was pulled up at Aintree in April on his sole start for fellow Welsh trainer Christian Williams.

“We put a few quid on him, not a lot,” Evans told Sky Sports Racing. “The bookmakers got the price wrong – he loves wet ground. I reckon he is a Saturday horse if we can get him right. Shane came back and said he could be a Welsh National horse for next year.” 

On Thorpe, who sent out her first runner in 2000, Evans added: “It’s great for Alison because we’ve had some poor runs.”

Hurricane Highway’s trainer Evan Williams had earlier won the 2m4f handicap hurdle for conditional riders with Boyles Hill.

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