London and The South hang on to Racing League top spot

But Dettori helps Wales and The West close the gap to just one point heading into week four.

Frankie Dettori performed his trademark flying dismount and chanted “we are top of the league” after helping Wales and The West to briefly top the table on night three of the Racing League at Newcastle.

While a Gosforth Park double for The East keeps them in the hunt in third, the competition is beginning to look like a two-way fight between Jamie Osborne’s Wales and The West, and London and The South, managed by Matt Chapman, who clung on at the top and go into week four at Windsor leading by 428 points to 427.

Osborne headed for the north east with what looked like a strong hand, particularly in race two, with Postmark and Tregony both bidding to follow up Racing League wins at Lingfield a fortnight ago.

Postmark was the 5-2 favourite in the hands of Dettori, but he had to make do with minor honours in third behind the Clive Cox-trained Tregony, who struck gold at 5-1 under Saffie Osborne.

Osborne senior decided against playing the second of his two jokers, which gives the team double points, and said afterwards: “It was nearly the perfect result.

“It was a close consideration to play a joker, but you only get two, we used one at Doncaster the first night and there’s another three weeks to go. Saffie just called me an idiot for not playing it!”

While that victory was not enough to propel Wales and The West to the top of the league, the victory of the Dettori-ridden Zaman Jemil was.

Harry and Roger Charlton’s juvenile was a heavily backed 11-8 favourite in race five and Dettori gave racegoers the celebration they were hoping for after steering the Invincible Spirit colt to an emphatic success.

Frankie Dettori returns to the winner's enclosure
Frankie Dettori returns to the winner’s enclosure (Ashley Iveson/PA)

Dettori said after performing his trademark flying dismount: “We are top of the league!

“At the moment it’s going smooth. Jamie is picking my rides and tonight I’ve had a third and a winner, which is brilliant – and we have passed Matt Chapman’s team!”

Wales and The West’s lead did not last long, however, with London and The South back in the slenderest of advantages following a winner on the night and several other runners picking up valuable points.

The crucial winner was provided by Menai Bridge, who scored at 5-1 for trainer Charlie Hills and jockey Marco Ghiani.

Chapman said: “It was an important race for London and the South. If we got anything out of tonight I was going to be quite surprised.

“We had Hoof It Hoof It in the two-year-old race, but that got pulled out at declaration time, and Cairn Gorm being out of the last is a big blow as well, so if we’re still in the lead at the end of the night I’ll be very, very happy.”

The East remain third on 332 points after Charlie Fellowes and Kieran Shoemark successfully teamed up twice on the night.

Wynter Wildes (5-1) landed the curtain-raiser, while Fresh Hope – an unlucky loser at Doncaster three weeks ago – benefited from the coolest of rides from Shoemark to justify 3-1 favouritism.

Delighted team boss Rupert Bell said: “From a team perspective, happy days.

“I’m delighted for Charlie as he had so much bad luck at Doncaster on the first night and he was really keen to get this horse (Wynter Wildes) in.

“What a ride from Kieran on Fresh Hope. He never panicked. It was a masterclass.

“We’ve had two winners on the night and we’re very much in the ball game!”

Mick Quinn enjoyed a winner in the final race at Newcastle
Mick Quinn enjoyed a winner in the final race at Newcastle (Joe Giddens/PA)

The Ruth Carr-trained Badri (11-2) – a former lead horse for the great sprinter Battaash – bolted up under Paul Mulrennan for Leonna Mayor’s Yorkshire team, now on 311 points.

Mayor said: “The most credit for this goes to Ruth. She texted me five or six days ago and said ‘I’ve been riding him out at home, he’s going unbelievably well’. She couldn’t wait to run.

“Paul just joked then when he came in ‘even you’d have won on him Ruth!’. This is the kind of result why this competition is so good. Ruth is a small trainer, she doesn’t have lots of horses rated 90, so be able to come here and win GBP 25,000 is fantastic.”

The Richard Fahey-trained, Harrison Shaw-ridden Show Me Show Me landed the finale for The North, managed by former Newcastle United striker Mick Quinn, who was gaining some reward from the night after earlier playing two jokers to little effect.

Quinn, whose team have 258 points, said: “He just kept finding and finding. Richard has supported with us eight runners and we’ve had no luck all night. I couldn’t come here on home ground without a winner!”

The two teams without a winner on the night, Scotland (251) and Ireland (164), are the bottom two in the league.

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