WITH a few abandonments because of the weather, it was a quiet spell on the National Hunt scene in the northern half of Britain in the period under review so Brian Hughes only managed to notch up five wins, recording doubles at Sedgefield on Monday and the following day at Kelso.

One of his successful Sedgefield partners was the Brian Ellison-trained Windsor Avenue, who was recording his second victory over timber when landing the National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle over two and a half miles. The now seven-year-old Winged Love gelding also has two bumper wins to his credit and he claimed a Loughbrickland maiden in November 2017 on the second of two starts for Stuart Crawford.