Two wins in four days for Borders racehorse trainer Katie Scott

The first of those victories, both over five furlongs, was at Ayr a week ago on Monday as a 50/1 outsider in a field of seven and the three-year-old bay filly followed it up with another, despite having a 6lb penalty applied in the interim, at Musselburgh last Friday as 5/4 favourite out of five runners.

Hawick jockey Jason Hart was in the saddle for her win at Ayr in its 4.40pm Coral Confined Handicap, finishing over four lengths clear of Another Bungle, ridden by Connor Beasley for County Durham trainer Michael Dods, to claim a top prize of £3,664.

Sam James took over riding duties in East Lothian four days later, finishing almost two lengths in front of Azuinthejungle, trained by North Yorkshire’s Nigel Tinkler and with Faye McManoman as jockey, in the 5.05pm Weatherbys Global Stallion App Handicap, earning prize money of £4,187.

Those two wins in a week give the filly, owned by South Lanarkshire-based Summerstorm Bloodstock, a strike-rate of 50% in her six races to date, following on from another first-placed finish in Newcastle over five furlongs at the start of March at 7’2 in a field of two, with Amie Waugh riding.

Scott is delighted to see Luna a Inbhir Nis, Gaelic for Moon over Inverness, getting off to a winning start to her career after arriving at her LIndean stables last year, blogging: “She’s a filly who has impressed us at the start of this season.

“She joined us last year for Summerstorm Bloodstock after they picked her up at the foal sales for peanuts and she now looks an incredibly smart buy.

“She always looked to have a level of ability but her first couple of runs were on unsuitable ground. She is a huge stamp of a filly and had some time before her third run where she won a match race at Newcastle.

“However, last week she really came into her own, notching up a quickfire Scottish double at Ayr and Musselburgh.

“Jason Hart was first up on her at Ayr and really brought out the best in her, then Sam James took the reins for her follow-up run at Musselburgh, where she again won in style, this time under a penalty.

“She is now on an impressive three wins from six runs.

“We await her new handicap mark before making plans for this exciting filly.”

Scott also picked up a runner-up spot at Hamilton Park on Sunday with Tarlac at 10/3, ridden by Paul Mulrennan in the 4.18pm Racing TV Handicap over six furlongs and losing out to 7/4 favourite Mister Sky Blue, ridden by Beasley for North Yorkshire trainer Gemma Tutty, by three-quarters of a length.

She was one of two Borders trainers to rack up wins in South Ayrshire at the start of last week, the other being Hawick’s Ewan Whillans with 3/1 favourite Ramon di Loria in the six-furlong Coral Racing Club Apprentice Handicap at 2pm.

Tommie Jakes was in the saddle for that race, finishing a length and a half ahead of Jump the Gun, ridden by Kaiya Fraser for Iain Jardine’s Dumfries and Galloway yard to earn a top prize of £3,664.

A further two wins went Whillans’ way south of the border at the weekend, with Billy Bathgate at 5/2 at Newcastle on Friday and Tartan Cookie at 16/1 at Hexham on Saturday.

PJ McDonald was in the saddle for the two-mile Quinnbet.com Handicap at Newcastle at 5.37pm, earning £3,245 after finishing a head in front of Captain Potter, ridden by Ben Robinson for North Yorkshire handler Brian Ellison.

Riding duties went to Danny McMenamin in Northumberland the day after for the two-mile-seven-furlong Greenhead Hotel Handicap Hurdle at 7.40pm and he finished a length and a quarter in front of Perth and Kinross trainer Lucinda Russell and jockey Alan Doyle’s Killybegs Jet Lady to land a top prize of £4,806.

Chestnut gelding Billy Bathgate and bay gelding Tartan Cookie’s wins in north-east England were only the second ever for both, and both at the age of nine, the former having last won at Ayr in June 2023 and the latter at Newcastle in February 2022.

Hart’s win for Scott on Luna a Inbhir Nis was one of four in the space of as many days for him, also finishing first on Nuevo Slovo for Irish trainer John O’Donoghue that same day at Ayr, on Anificas Beauty for South Yorkshire’s Peter Winks at Pontefract in West Yorkshire last Thursday and on Benacre at Newcastle on Friday for North Yorkshire’s Charlie Johnston.