Racing League round-up: Wales and the West pounce on home soil on Week 3 at Chepstow | Racing News

The chaos of Racing League Week 3 started before racing with Sheep on the course and heavy rain but this didn’t dampen Saffie Osborne’s spirit as she struck with a treble.

Team East arrived at Chepstow well clear of the rest of the teams but luck was not on their side this week with no winners to record for the leaders. However, Wales and the West sparkled on home soil.

Saffie stamps her mark with a treble

After the second race of the evening Wales and The West moved into second place in the standings with a comfortable win for Von Baer. This vital victory also was important for Saffie Osborne, who is attempting to retain her title for a third year. The queen of Racing League gave the three-year-old a lovely ride as Etoile d’Alexandre and Von Baer battled for the front-running position. However, the rain played in their favour to showcase a lovely turn of foot.

Osborne gave Fantasy Believer a lovely ride as despite missing the break and dwelling badly at the start, the reigning champion jockey used this to her favour. She sat at the back of the field allowing Qitaal and Week 1 winner Rathgar, who were duelling for the leading position, to burn themselves out slightly. This enabled her to get smooth passage, out widest of the field and easily overturn the Yarmouth winner Rathgar.

The last was lucky for Wales and the West as the favourite Carrytheone got the better of Rahmi and Streets Of Gold. It was a true battle to the line between the trio. Osborne again used the dwelling at the start to her benefit and despite hanging, the seven-year-old finished the race out well.

Important week for London and the South

The first showed that Team London and the South meant business as they overtook Team Ireland in the leaderboard. They had first and second with Great Acclaim and Lady Flora. The latter played pace-maker in the early stages of the race for his team-mate with Havana Rum for the North sitting closely behind. The field was a wide spread across the course but nothing was a match for the powerhouses of team London and the South. A strong start for Matt Chapman’s team.

But the ball kept rolling for the team in purple as they recorded two more wins both in the hands of Oisín Murphy. It was quickly a double on the card for them as Gisburn emerged in front from the fog in the third race. He powered home with North providing chase late on. Murphy was key, well clear in the Champion Jockey title race, he hasn’t ridden at Chepstow since 2021 but made the journey well worth his while.

Lieber Power brought the hat-trick up as he won going away. The consistent Andrew Balding charge bided his time as he was boxed in on the rail with team-mate Bizarre Law just in front alongside Walter Hartright with Gangster Granny being his final obstacle. The patient ride saw him waiting for the gap and then pouncing in perfect timing to secure maximum points.

Same result 12 months on

Manila Scouse retained his title in Racing League, securing the same race a year later for Tim Easterby and Dave Allan. The five-year-old stuck to his task well and avoided getting into it with Radio Goo Goo, who was competing for the leading position. In the closing stages it was the rain that worked in his favour as thrived in the softer ground, allowing him to put his best foot forward for Team Yorkshire.

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