Tom Scudamore and El Paso Wood land Stratford's feature race
EL Paso Wood made all the running to land the Keogh & Hows Handicap Chase, the highlight of Stratford’s seven-race card on Saturday.
The 7/4 joint-favourite, jockeyed by Tom Scudamore, ran well over the trip of two miles and six-and-a-half furlongs and survived a late challenge from Steel Wave to record a three-length success.
The meeting got under way with the Retraining Of Racehorses Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase over two miles and a three-and-a-half furlongs, in which there were just two runners.
And it was 5-6 favourite Geronimo who went on to claim a comfortable eight-length success over Pencreek to chalk up a third straight win after successes at Fontwell and Bangor.
The Duncan Potter Memorial Handicap Hurdle attracted the largest field of the day with nine entries, with victory going to 6-4 favourite Sergent.
The five-year-old, who was second at Stratford in August, went one better this time around to get the better of Lucky Lover Boy by one-and-a-quarter lengths.
Seven lined up for the Steve Wann 40th Birthday Conditional Jockeys’ Selling Handicap Hurdle over the trip of two miles and two-and-a-half furlongs and in the closest finish of the day, 12-1 shot Baliyad, making his first run after a 279-day break, edged out Persuer by half a length.
Making just his third run of 2022, Turpin Gold was a six-length winner in the National Racehorse Week 10th-18th September Novices’ Hurdle.
Blaze A Trail continued his Stratford love affair by claiming a third win at the course in the penultimate race of the meeting, the NAF Racing Handicap Chase over two miles and one furlong.
Atlantic Storm, who continues his search to become just the fifth horse to win five times at Stratford, finished fourth.
There were four entries for the concluding Andy Townsend Memorial Open National Hunt Flat Race over the trip of two miles and a half a furlong, in which 4-6 favourite Sea The Clouds, making just his fourth run of 2022 and first after a 158-day break, won by a length from Indian Sunbird.
