Exciting season opener followed by less than fantastic fare in early clash

Britain’s season got away to a good start at Buckfastleigh in Devon on Sunday, when a new fixture put on a competitive afternoon of racing.

Sunny weather was a bonus, the bar and catering tent run by the organising hunts did brisk trade, and while an entry of 70 was a little below par a large crowd witnessed 53 horses take part. There was each-way betting on the first three in four races.

Tom Chanin, riding for his father, Robert, who has a yard near Tiverton, rode a double to take an early lead in the Fuller’s men’s championship, and a first-time-out four-year-old called Tide Times, from Jill Dennis’s Cornish stable, made an impression when beating older rivals in the first contest on the card.