Cloth lands major gamble
The gambled-on Memory Cloth gets the job done
Memory Cloth landed an almighty gamble in the Betfred Bonus King Bingo Handicap at Newcastle for Brian Ellison and Dale Swift.
Available at 4-1 in the morning, he was sent off the 6-4 favourite and quickly bagged the favoured rail. He soon had his rivals in trouble and while Al Muheer and Osteopathic Remedy looked dangerous at one point, it was left to Brae Hill to throw down the final challenge, but he finished half a length adrift.
The winner only ran at the course on Thursday afternoon, when he finished third to Swiftly Done.
Ellison said: "After what happened on Thursday with the weather and everything, he was in the horsebox for 11 hours and didn't get back home until after 1am. I threw him in the paddock for the day and he seemed absolutely fine.
"That was the only worry coming here today, but he's done it well and showed a lot of speed. Maybe he just doesn't quite get home over the mile. I'm not sure what we will do now, but he could go back to six furlongs if he wanted."
Ellison and Swift completed a double as 9-4 shot Union Island got the better of a titanic tussle with stablemate and 13-8 favourite Red Inca in the Betfred Hat Trick Heaven On Euros Handicap. the trainer said: "To be honest, I fancied Red Inca, but in this ground the other horse just stays that bit better."
Tim Easterby's Fast Shot ploughed through the mud and emerged victorious in the Betfred Mobile Sports Handicap. The 8-1 shot had shown a liking for give in the ground when successful at Ripon in mid-April, but results had been mixed in four subsequent appearances.
Favourite Powerful Presence was in front entering the last of the six furlongs as he searched a fourth successive victory, but he was unable to repel Fast Shot and David Allan, who finished best to score by a length.
Misplaced Fortune also came home well to grab second, relegating Powerful Presence to third.
Easterby said: "He's a grand horse who loves bottomless ground. His grand-dam, Final Shot, won the Ayr Gold Cup for us. He had a bad draw at York last time and we knew coming here today the ground would be a massive plus."
