Trainer Owen bags Fakenham double

The crowd may have been small for Fakenham’s Sky Bet Race Day but on going declared to be ‘good to soft in places’, the excitement was intense.Warm favourite Mersey Street ridden by Richie McLernon got the day underway with a fine victory in the Sky Bet Freeze Hurdle over three miles.The pairing led from virtually start to finish, holding on gamely up the final straight to beat much-fancied Awesome Foursome by two lengths.The Sky Bet Acca Freeze Hurdle over the same distance, but a much tighter affair, went to Mavis Pike ridden by claimer James Turner.Despite a poor jump at the last he just held off the favourite and his main rival Kalif D’Airy under Caolin Quinn by less than a length.The third race of the day the Sky Bet Extra Places Every Day Chase over 2 miles and 5 furlongs produced an outstanding run by the 13-year-old Mortens Leam in the hands of Harry Reed for trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies.Carrying top weight he defied his years to dominate his nine rivals to take the main prize by four lengths over second-placed Cloudy Wednesday under Lewis Stones. Joint favourites fought out the Sky Bet Maiden Hurdle over 2 miles and 4 furlongs but it was Escapologist ridden by Mr Alex Chadwick for trainer James Owen who just got the better of Aviation under Tom Cannon as they headed for the line together. There was a surprise winner of the Sky Bet Cheltenham Non-Runner No Bet Mares Hurdle over the same distance with 10-1 shot Mermaids Cave outlasting the field by three lengths with a commanding run under claimer Ben Bromley to provide James Owen with a double on the day.The best win of the afternoon was provided by Telepathique to take the Queen Boudicca Series Final Mares Chase over 2 miles and 5 furlongs.A bold run from the front by Tom Cannon was maintained relentlessly with his mare romping home by nine lengths. The seven-race card was reduced to six following a medical incident which led to the final Bumper flat race being abandoned.The next meeting scheduled for Fakenham is St.Valentine’s Race Day on Friday, February 14.