Six-horse trainer enjoys 'extremely special' first winner in almost two and a half years with bargain £3,000 buy

Small-scale trainer Tracey Leeson enjoyed her first winner in almost two and a half years when bargain buy Annie Nail landed the 2m5f mares’ handicap chase.

Leeson has six horses in training at her stable near Towcester, having taken over the yard from John Upson in 2016 after working for the trainer for 21 years.

Annie Nail joined Leeson in February after being bought by owner Paul Long for £3,000 at a ThoroughBid sale, and after a stable debut fifth at Hereford last month, she took a notable step forward to score by 11 lengths under Tabitha Worsley.

Leeson said: “She’s been a fantastic little buy and is a really tough mare. I couldn’t watch the race after the first circuit – the nerves got the better of me – but the replay showed she travelled brilliantly and won well.

“It’s a tough business as a small yard and you have to work really hard to keep it going but days like this certainly make it worthwhile.

“We know every horse individually and you get very attached to them as a small yard – so when it goes wrong it’s far more devastating, but equally when it goes right it’s extremely special."

Popular veteran

Le Milos, who is best known for winning the Coral Gold Cup in 2022, landed the feature 3m veterans' handicap chase by five and a half lengths for Dan and Harry Skelton.

Marathon winner

Stans The Man repelled all challengers to land the 3m5f Norfolk National by a length for Ben Godfrey and Ella Pickard.

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