'We prayed for rain for a month and we managed to get it' - Uptown Harry ends the drought

He may have qualified by "a bit of a fluke", but that did not stop Uptown Harry giving Jane Walton her biggest win in a dozen or so years as a trainer.

The 12-1 shot's battling success in the £30,000 Go North Monet's Garden Series Final Handicap Chase under Ross Chapman also ended a 682-day losing run for his small Northumberland yard, a drought which stretched back to the nine-year-old's last victory.

"He had run just twice this season and both happened to be qualifiers, so it was a bit of a fluke he got in," admitted Walton. "He ran terribly at Newcastle but the ground was jarring and he didn't let himself down on it, but he ran a solid race back here next time and we knew we were on the right track. 

"We prayed for rain for a month and managed to get it. We were pretty confident as we knew he'd love the soft ground and he loves going right-handed. This is his track – they just don't put enough races on for him!"

Walton, the daughter of former trainer Alistair Charlton who died in January, has just five horses in a yard which is barely a two-mile chase away from the Otterburn stable of Susan Corbett, who also won a Go North final at Kelso on Saturday.

"Uptown Harry was our last winner when he won at Perth on soft ground in May 2021," she said. "We have a lot of youngsters, but we've been waiting for this ground. Now I want it to keep pouring down!

"I'd only had a handful of runners all season and nothing had finished better than fifth until his sister Noble Affair was second in the race before – we nearly had a double!"

Going's day

The excitement spread as far away as Australia when Going Mobile gave Sam England another Racing Post Go North final success.

The 10-1 shot landed the One Man Chase under the trainer's husband Jonathan in the colours of the Sam England Racing Club, who were delighted to land a £30,000 race.

"There's about a dozen of us in the club," said organiser Terry Davis. "They're from all over and there's one member in Australia who'll be very pleased – it will be the middle of the night there if he's watching it, but he usually keeps up with things. 

"We're small and friendly but Sam and Jon are a great team and they punch above their weight. It costs £500 for 12 months and we have this horse, who's won three for us now, and Manuel, who's won four or five.

"Manuel was third in the Sefton at Aintree, but this is our biggest win and it's very exciting. It was a little unexpected as well as we weren't sure about the ground."

The West Yorkshire yard won two of the finals on this card last year, but the winning jockey admitted: "We didn't really expect that. We were worried about the ground, but he has a lot of ability when he's on a going day."

Going Mobile (left) wins the Go North One Man Series Final for the Sam England Racing ClubCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Good Note

The England stable was denied a repeat of last year's double on this card when Elleon could manage only second to the Ewan Whillans-trained Hold The Note in the Go North Red Rum Series Final Handicap Chase.

Whillans, who also took the 3m1f hurdle with Topkapi Star, is on honeymoon and was represented by his father Alistair, who said of the 16-1 winner: ""It was his first time in a visor for a while and he won a bumper on heavy so I wasn't bothered about the ground. He's not the quickest but he did everything in his own time – it couldn't be better!"

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