Market Rasen racecourse winning run goes on for Skelton

Skelton has already clocked up a 50 per cent success rate at the course in the new season following the Super Sunday meet last weekend.

Star performer at Sunday’s meeting was Too many Diamonds (8/11 favourite) who claimed his fourth win in the space of eight days when he won the B. Eyre and Son Ltd Ford Handicap Hurdle.

Skelton claimed the eight-year-old at Taunton in April and his winning run has seen him score at Plumpton, Bangor-on-Dee and Sedgefield before his Rasen success.

Course regulars will remember Skelton’s success at the big Summer Plate meeting last July when he claimed the top prizes in the day’s two big races.

Incredibly, before Too Many Diamonds began his winning streak with the success at Plumpton, he had failed to win in 40 trips to a racecourse.

The Skelton magic, brother Harry was on board, appears to be working again.

The duo had already combined when I’ll Be Your Clown (1/7) won the opener at a canter, but the five-runner race and a big odds-on favourite is not the sort of race to excite punters at the start of the afternoon.

Only five went to post in the next race, a novices handicap chase.

The favourite won here as well in the shape of Always Lion (7/4) who had Nico de Boinville on board.

The winner had useful form in bumpers several seasons ago, but this was his first win over fences.

Jonjo O’Neill’s horses are always welcome at Market Rasen and he saddled I’dliketheoption (3/1) in the £1,8000 feature race, a Class 2 handicap chase.

Aidan Coleman was on board as five went to post. The handicapper helped here, dropping the horse to a mark he scored off at Ludlow last year.