'He could go in with the special ones' - Christian Williams excited as Fortified Fortune creates fine impression

Christian Williams is a master when it comes to staying chasers and looks to have another talented prospect in Fortified Fortune.

The Glamorgan trainer has won races such as the Welsh National, Scottish National, Eider and bet365 Gold Cup and might have a couple of those in mind for the five-year-old, who led at the second-last under Jack Tudor in the opening 2m1f novice before fending off the rallying Pirates' Tale.

He said: "I thought this might be our only chance to run him and I was a bit worried about running him over two miles, but Chris [Trembath, joint-owner] said to just run him.

"We see him as a very exciting three-mile chaser in the future, so I'm very surprised he's capable of winning over two miles on a sharp track. We'll probably put him away now, as he's only a young horse and could be nice for us. Chris and Tony [Outhart, joint-owner] have been very patient. We ran him at Warwick and he looked a nice horse and he's gone and won today, so it's brilliant."

Williams admitted to having a specific field where he keeps his better horses such as Kitty's Light, and added: "We've got a nice little field there that we try to put the special ones in – and we left one spot there. He might fill it."

Masterful from Carver

Bryan Carver produced a masterful front-running ride on the Chris Honour-trained Time To Bite to land the 2m5f handicap chase.

He sent the nine-year-old to the front from the off and was more than six lengths clear for most of the race, with just American Gerry making headway from the pack to close the deficit to a length and three-quarters.

Clearance cleans up

Clearance made it four wins from his last five starts at Newton Abbot when storming to a seven-and-a-half-length win under Tom Cannon in the 2m2½f handicap hurdle.

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