Rebecca Menzies receives universal acclaim after striking with Xpo

It is not often a horse with an official rating of 94 wins a race worth £35,000, but this was no ordinary day and Xpo Universel is clearly no ordinary horse.

The Carlisle fixture was designed to give lesser runners the chance to win decent prize-money and featured five £35,000 finals of the Northern Lights Series with Xpo Universel causing a 20-1 upset in the second of those, the 2m1f handicap hurdle.

The Rebecca Menzies-trained nine-year-old was previously best known for winning for the first time on his 71st start at Cartmel in the summer, yet just four races later he went in again to claim a valuable prize under an astute ride from amateur Aaron Anderson.