High drama in Durham National as Quinlan confusion lets Brian Boranha in

Confusion reigned after Sedgefield's biggest race of the year, the 3m5f Durham National. The records will show that Brian Boranha won in clear-cut fashion for Peter Niven and Henry Brooke, but it was a race with much more drama than that.

In an ugly looking incident at the seventh fence, Fact Of The Matter fell and wiped out Easy Street. A circuit later, the fence was bypassed after Richie McLernon had initially stayed down.

McLernon was up and well clear by the third and final circuit, when Sean Quinlan swung off the bend still in front on Red Giant. However, anticipating the fence being omitted once more, Quinlan went round it, mistakenly as it turned out. That left Brian Boranha to bring what transpired to be a 16-month plan to fruition.