Horse racing: Punters make Shrewd choice on big day

MUSSELBURGH RACE COURSE FEATURE
03/02/1998 The 2 o' clock which was won by Irish Wildcard — MUSSELBURGH RACE COURSE FEATURE 03/02/1998 The 2 o' clock which was won by Irish Wildcard

Shrewd gave the locals plenty to cheer about when winning on Musselburgh's major NH card yesterday.

On an afternoon which saw challengers from the major yards in England and Ireland, the gelding came through strongly to lead at the final flight and win the Scottish County Hurdle Trial for Borders trainer Iain Jardine.

Top trainer Nicky Henderson sent a big team from his Lambourn base and suffered a couple of reversals before OO Seven got him on the scoresheet and Cup Final made it a double for the Seven Barrows yard when taking the finale. Cup Final was the best-backed horse of the day and justified favouritism in style despite returning from a 428-day lay-off.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls struck with Tommy Silver in the Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial and looked set to double up in the following event with hot favourite Sametegal in the Scottish Future Champions Chase when the long odds-on favourite was clear at the final fence. But he was reeled in on the flat and beaten half a length by Five In A Row, who had been 20 lengths adrift on the home turn and who traded at odds of 999-1 in the Betfair in-running market.