Richard and Sue Evans were on hand last Thursday to see their home-bred mare Creoso Mawr land the 1m fillies' handicap. There was never an anxious moment with the 5-2 shot making almost all under Cathy Gannon. The mare had finished runner-up at Ffos Las three days earlier, despite the inconvenience of the bit slipping through her mouth, and Richard Evans said: "I thought she'd run quite well here with the ground to her liking but I certainly didn't expect her to win as easily as that."

The victory took Cathy Gannon to 5 winners for the season at Chepstow so far, meaning she is currently in second place behind current leader, Welsh born David Probert, in the Chepstow jockeys' league table.

Earlier, Gannon partnered her first winner for trainer Harry Dunlop when Vectis, pictured below, turned in a smart performance in the 2-y-o Maiden Stakes over five furlongs. "Vectis was quite a handful when he first arrived but he was gelded in the spring and has settled down nicely. He has been doing some nice work but this looked a hot race and I was worried about the favourite." said Dunlop.

North Yorkshire trainer Sharon Watt, better known in the world of eventing, made the long journey worthwhile when she hit the target with her first Chepstow runner when Madam Lilibet landed a gamble (into 5-1 from 8-1) in the 1m4f handicap. More than an inch of rain had fallen in the previous 24 hours, something that hadn't passed Sharon by as she was in frequent contact with the Clerk of the Course in the days leading up to the meeting, to check on whether Madam Lilibet would get her preferred conditions.  

Rain softened ground was no bar to Brian Baugh's Tanforan who showed wonderful adaptability to follow up his good ground win in the same one mile handicap as last year, once again in the hands of Kelly Harrison. Trainer's assistant Sam Holmes said: "Tanforan has been running well and although we didn't especially target a repeat of last year's win in this race the opportunity dropped right after his near miss here last week."