'He's found his niche' - improving chaser completes Alastair Ralph double

Wednesday: Ludlow

Alastair Ralph enjoyed a 77-1 double at Ludlow and believes promising novice chaser Tap Tap Boom can continue to pay his way after following up a recent Plumpton victory.

The eight-year-old ran at Graded level when in France but took time to transfer his talent since moving yards to the Shropshire trainer.

He appeared to improve for the switch to chasing when an easy winner three weeks ago and followed that up with a brave performance in the 2m novice handicap chase under conditional Jay Tidball.

The victory came after a 12-1 win for Coastal Sun in the 2m novice claiming hurdle. The four-year-old was purchased for £5,000 after the race.

"It's been a good day," said Ralph. "It was nice to see Coastal Sun win the claimer and then Tap Tap Boom did it again over fences, which was good to see. He's a nice chaser, so I'm very happy.

"I think the small fields suit him well. We had him in competitive handicaps last season but he seems to have found his niche in these small, novice, handicap chases. We'll see what the handicapper does next before making any plans.

"He was ridden well by my conditional Jay Tidball. He's in great form and is riding with confidence now."

Easy winner

Mullenbeg breezed to a third successive victory in the 2m mares' handicap hurdle for Milton Harris and Jonathan Burke after wins at Plumpton and Fakenham.

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