No one can say they didn't deserve it - Calling The Wind and Hughes are worthy Plate heroes

If ever a duo deserved a big day in the sun, it was this one.

Only the coldest of cold hearts could have begrudged Calling The Wind and Richard Hughes their victory in the JenningsBet Northumberland Plate. For Hughes, a three-time champion jockey, here was the grandest triumph of a training career that has so far yielded masses of quantity but not yet as much quality as he desires. For Calling The Wind, success in one of the great long-distance handicaps was long overdue reward for his courage and consistency in oodles of similar battles. Justice has finally been done.

For the incredibly likeable seven-year-old, there was a sense that his Pitmen's Derby was akin to Rooster Booster's County Hurdle. For just as that fabulous fans' favourite had racked up an array of placed efforts in fiercely competitive events prior to winning at the 2002 Cheltenham Festival, so, too, had Calling The Wind repeatedly headed home as the best man but never the groom, save for taking a handicap at Glorious Goodwood two years ago.