Shetland Bus drives Richard Newland stable out of 74-day winless drought

Monday: Stratford

Shetland Bus provided Richard Newland with a welcome winner when taking the 2m6½f conditional jockeys' handicap chase under Luke Scott.

The Grand National-winning trainer's barren run had stretched back 74 days to July and followed a period in June when the yard had been hit by an outbreak of the equine herpes virus.

Newland said: “It’s a great feeling. Hopefully, this can be a turning point. It’s no secret that we’ve been going through a cold patch. We had equine herpes earlier in the summer and it has been hard work getting horses back to where we want them.

“But he is one who has run pretty consistently throughout the summer and it was his turn today, which was great."

Despite the summer struggles, he remained upbeat about the new season’s prospects. “I’m not at all worried about the form going forward," he said. "We have a nice winter team, none of whom were in the yard when this nasty virus was going around.”

Bouncing back

Harry Bannister also demonstrated his powers of recovery during an eventful afternoon. The jockey fell in the second race when La Breille stumbled at the last, but he shook it off to land a double in the next two races.

Master Dancer, making his debut on British soil for Richard Bandey, landed the 2m½f novice hurdle before Bannister completed his double when Jack Thunder stayed on well to see out the novice handicap chase over 2m3½f.

Results, replays and analysis

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