'I said he should ride the other one' - Rex Dingle left to rue favourite's defeat

Rex Dingle might be cursing Anthony Honeyball for not putting his foot down and insisting he rode Windance, who struck in the 3m1f handicap chase under Sam Twiston-Davies.

Dingle knows the 11-4 winner well but was aboard the Jeremy Scott-trained 10-11 favourite Stormy Flight, who finished second.

"Rex would have ridden Windance but it looked like Stormy Flight would have been a really good mount, so I said he should ride it," Honeyball explained.

"That's the way it goes sometimes and Rex probably had to ride the other horse on form. We use Sam when we can though and it was a great ride, but I did, at one point, wonder whether we'd just box on for second as Rex's horse had been in great form."

Gyenyame glory

Anne Broom is better known as one half of Brocade Racing with her husband Garth, but she enjoyed a winner with Wendy Carter when Gyenyame flourished in the 2m4f maiden hurdle.

Broom and Carter are longstanding owners with Colin Tizzard and now his son Joe.

Their first winner came when Getmegold won at Exeter last year and Broom, relishing recent rain for Remastered in next week's Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival, said: "We're delighted with that, although I didn't think we'd beat the Paul Nicholls horse [Impact Du Bonheur]."

Carter, previously involved with useful Tizzard chaser Robinsfirth, added: "We've been friends and gone racing together – we met through the Tizzards – so decided to have a horse just for us girls."

No stopping her

The Torrington Arms in Devon was forecast to be busy following the 40-1 win of the Claire Harris-trained Stopherandgo in the mares' novice hurdle, although not all of the locals might have been on.

"We hoped for a place," said part-owner and pub landlady Annie Rawle. "All the boys are watching back home, but they weren't expecting this. I'd been saying, 'No, don't back her – she just needs to get round because she bled last time', but I suspect there will be celebrations tonight."

Jockey Paul O'Brien sported the same black and yellow silks Rawle's late father Fred wore as a point-to-point rider.

"It means a lot," she added. "Dad passed away 12 years ago and these colours go back a long way."

Change of luck

Aikenbreakinheart got off the mark at the 15th time of asking in the 3m1f novice handicap chase.

"He's had some genuine bad luck in his races," said trainer Richard Rowe. "I think horses get confidence when they do win, so I'm hoping he improves and I could do with a few more winners, but am happy with how mine are running, so can't complain."

Hobbs hope

The Philip Hobbs team had a Cheltenham Festival boost in the form of Island Run, a homebred of Sir Christopher and Lady Wates's who won the 3m½f handicap hurdle.

His stablemate Thyme Hill is fancied for Wednesday's Brown Advisory Novices' Chase and the trainer's wife Sarah reported: "He's fresh and well – very well – and any rain won't bother him."

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