Southwell star General Tufto out of luck on his 200th start

General Tufto, the 12-year-old gelding who was having his 200th start in Southwell's second division of the mile handicap on Thursday, was unable to crown the milestone with another win but plugged on for an admirable fifth behind 12-1 shot Sunshineandbubbles.

Charles Smith's popular stalwart – who was sent off at odds of 16-1 – was returning to the track after a 206-day break, but failed to claim a 16th win at Southwell under Joey Haynes.

Full result and replay

The veteran still showed plenty of aptitude for the game, however, and made headway in the middle part of the race before staying on dourly in the closing stages to be beaten less than five lengths.

John Theaker, who owns the evergreen General Tufto, said: "I enjoyed it. He came round the bend with a bit of a chance, but racing wide and not having run for such a long time probably told in the end.

"He's been such a good horse to have and he'll hopefully be back for a race on New Year's Day. He's won that before, too, though I dare say there won't be many races like that around here he hasn't won – he'll be 13 that day, of course. He's catching me up!"

Janet Smith, who was representing her husband and trainer Charles, added: "It's a long time since he'd had such a long break and he ran well. He's brilliant at home and still showing all of his enthusiasm."

The only horse in training to have recorded more starts than General Tufto is in action at Chelmsford on Thursday night. Richard Guest's 11-year-old Captain Scooby has his 206th start in the 8.45.

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