THERE were a couple of northern-trained winners in the past eight days, the first coming during day one of the Northern Ireland Festival at Down Royal where Simon Torrens arrived with a well-timed challenge to land the three-mile Allianz Handicap Hurdle on Askann.

The seven-year-old Ask mare is trained in Co Tyrone by the rider’s uncle Mervyn whose wife Anne owns the chesnut. Simon has ridden the mare in all her runs since they finished third at the St Stephen’s Day meeting at Down Royal in 2017. Her only two previous starts this season had been over fences.

Askann was led up by Anne and Mervyn’s show jumping daughter Jennifer with the owner saving her legs for Sunday’s meet of the Donegal & Tyrone Farmers Hunt in Artigarvan where she and her camera were kept busy throughout the afternoon.

Disappointing

It was disappointing for Pat Sloan that she didn’t have a winner at her local track but her colours were carried to success in the near two-and-a-half-mile listed handicap chase at Wetherby last Friday week by the Nicky Richards-trained Guitar Pete.

Another northern owner to have a winner over the weekend was Edith Crawford whose La Chanteuse, on her third start, justified 5/2 favouritism in the bumper at Ayr on Saturday.

Ridden by 3lb claimer Fergus Gregory, the 2014 Scorpion mare is trained by the owner’s son Stuart who gave €9,000 for the bay as a three-year-old at Part II of the Derby Sale in 2017. Her dam, Louve Sereine (by Sadler’s Wells), who won on the flat in her native France, has bred at least four winners including the Red Ransom mare Louve Orientale, dam of Buiseness Sivola.

Gelding

At Ayr, La Chanteuse finished a length and a quarter ahead of the Arctic Cosmos gelding Grumpy McGrumpface. That four-year-old was ridden by Downpatrick’s Danny McMenamin who, the following afternoon, brought his seasonal tally to 15 when, on his sole ride, he landed the two-mile, one-furlong handicap hurdle at Carlisle on the Dianne Sayer-trained Frightened Rabbit.

On Wednesday at Dundalk, Michael Halford sent out Spelga to win division one of the extended 10-furlong handicap for Castlewellan owner Paul Rooney. The three-year-old Sir Percy gelding was winning for the first time on his 10th start.