Hard border would be a nightmare says new trainer of Road To Riches

Those feeling nervous about the implications of Brexit might spare a thought for trainer David Christie, whose County Fermanagh yard in Northern Ireland is in sight of the border.

He says: “I'm up and down across the border every day of the week. I do a lot of schooling in the south and most race meetings I go to are there. It would be a nightmare to have a hard border.”

Christie’s string for the season includes a couple of hunter chasers for David Maxwell, the London businessman and amateur rider who at Doncaster sales in September bought Gold Cup third Road To Riches. He had won two Grade 1 chases for Noel Meade leading up to that third to Coneygree at Cheltenham in March 2015, but at the age of 11 his recent performances have been showing less bite.