Famous Bridge among entries for £20,000 feature race at Kelso

The six-year-old bay gelding, carrying the colours of the late Trevor Hemmings, faces six rivals in the 4.20pm William Hill Leading Racecourse Bookmaker Handicap Hurdle over 2m 5f including Aurora Thunder, trained by Lucinda Russell in Perth and Kinross.

“He was third in a heavy ground bumper in Ireland and hasn’t done a lot wrong in his three runs over hurdles since coming to us,” Richards said. “He beat a nice Warren Greatrex horse at Ayr and the ground was probably a little bit tacky when he was second at Kelso just after Christmas.

Also competing in that race is Elvis Mail, a three-time winner at Kelso for Fife trainer Nick Alexander.

The six-race card gets under way with the 1.50pm Racing to Work Handicap Hurdle, a qualifier for the Challenger Stayers Hurdle Series final, and it will see County Tipperary trainer John Patrick Ryan compete at Kelso for the first time with Highland Sting, the likely favourite.

The six-year-old bay gelding will be up against eight other runners including entries from three Borders trainers – Kelso’s Sandy Thomson with Milvale, Hawick’s Ewan Whillans with Kaizer and Selkirk’s Stuart Coltherd with Dequall.

Coltherd is set to be double-handed in the 2.20pm Try Racing TV for F ree Now Novices’ Hurdle with Augharue and Ring Pretender and Whillans is also represented in that one, by Bella Bluesky.

Whillans has a runner in the 3.20pm Derrick John Allison Memorial Handicap Chase too, Pitempton Power.