Joe McConnell
It was another glittering night for Wales and West, who secured a hat-trick, but star Billy Loughnane returned to the top of the jockeys’ rankings after a win over Bennetot
Great start for Team East
Looked like a strong start for the Week 3 leaders, who won the opener with Nazron. He dominated the first in Week 4 of the Racing League under Daniel Muscutt. The three-year-old has been very consistent of late and showed how good he could be, settling well and waiting patiently for the leading duo to crumble.
He then slid into the balance position to safely return home. Yorkshire gained valuable points with third and fourth place in this race. However, this success could only be short-lived.
Nazron Extends Lead for Team East
Success at home for London and the South
The second race showed the depth of the home team. It was first and second for London and South at home, with Great Acclaim and Post Rider battling it out to the line to secure maximum points. Great Acclaim had to go wide of everyone to chase down his teammate and stick to his job well to challenge his penalty, following his win last week at Chepstow for the Purple team.
Post Rider did his best to chase the winner, but to no avail, with Team Ireland salvaging valuable points thanks to third place for Billy Loughnane.
Great Acclaim has achieved consecutive Racing League victories at Windsor
28-1 Shock
The North took vital points in the third race of the evening as Mick Quinn’s team caused a major upset as Life On The Rocks continued incredibly well to be a big outside winner. His off-the-pace run saw him overtake God Of Fire (London and South) to deny him a five-time winner. The journey from Malton paid off for Richard Fahey, who took the money.
A well-placed prankster from London and the South
Although Ireland had their first winner of the week in the 7.00 race with Billy Loughnane giving Bennetot a fine ride, it was London and the South who emerged on top of the leaderboard. Loughnane was patient and didn’t rush his horse and the perfect gap emerged for him with Scotland also gaining some much needed points from Love De Vega in second.
The win gave Loughnane some breathing space at the top of the standings, 20 points clear of defending champion Saffie Osborne. But Matt Chapman’s perfectly timed wildcard secured double points for third-placed Racingbreaks Ryder and eighth-placed Arctic Thunder, sending them just under 20 points clear at the top of the standings, with Wales and the West hot on their heels.
Jockey Billy Loughnane celebrates victory over Bennetot
Wales and West win
Wales and West secured top spot in the standings with wins in the fourth, sixth and seventh games.
In the fourth, two in-form horses battled it out as Lieber Power (London and the South) and Night Breeze (Wales and the West) battled it out to the line. Lieber Power was denied his Racing League double, but it was a hat-trick for the winner. It was far from easy for the winner, who had to dig deep. This race was crucial, as Night Breeze scored maximum points to send Wales and the West into the lead.
Toca Madera was the first win of the evening for Benoit de la Sayette
These impressive top points hauls did not end there, as the important Toca Madera was not deterred by Hayley Turner and Regal Envoy, if anything they worked in Benoit De La Sayette’s favour. It was a steady pace to keep up and with two furlongs to go Toca Madera gave it her all to get to the front and break away from Regal Envoy.
The last lucky one saw Wales and West clearly with the winner and third, Parlando and Sean. Parlando waited for a gap to form along the rail and he had some space. This also allowed Osborne on Sean to follow them which proved vital for the points. Going through the gears like no other in the field, Parlando went clearly leaving Scotland, London, South and East to fight for the spoils.
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