McCain delighted with Cloudy success

Cloudy Lane provided Ginger McCain with an emotional success in the Red Square Vodka "Fixed Brush" Novices' Hurdle Final Bonus Race at Haydock

McCain, who was paying his last visit to the Merseyside track in his role as a trainer before he hands over to his son Donald, has enjoyed many wins at the course with Cloudy Lane’s performance giving him particular satisfaction.

Jason Maguire kicked on off the final bend and jumping the obstacles boldly, the 8-1 shot ran on powerfully to land the £13,012 (€18,800) winner’s purse by six lengths from Oscar Park.

After greeting his 33rd winner of the season, McCain joked: “The way it is I think I’ll delay handing my licence in for another two years.”

But he continued: “This horse is pretty useful and he is better than we thought he was. We’ve always treated him as a potentially nice staying chaser and I couldn’t believe going into this race that he was going as well as he was but he’s gone and done it like a proper horse.

“He’s already schooled over small fences and I think he could be quite a serious staying chaser.

“It was just a nice race to win with John Halewood sponsoring it. It was grand – very satisfying.”