Santando and Rock share honours

Santando, who was a credible sixth in the 2003 St Leger, got off the mark over timber when dead-heating with Thunder Rock in the Play 3 Card Poker skybetvegas.com Novices’ Hurdle at Plumpton.

The seven-year-old looked nailed on jumping the second-last, but Tony McCoy got a sweet tune out of Thunder Rock and joined Peter Bowen’s charge – returned at 7-2 – on the run-in.

The pair swept past the post together and the judge eventually called a dead-heat, with Santando and Thunder Rock (13-2) pulling 11 lengths clear of 5-4 favourite Marc of Brilliance.

Santando is owned by former head of BBC Sport Jonathan Martin and provided him with a first winner in his own colours.

Bowen, who had travelled six hours in the horse box to East Sussex from his South Wales base, said: “He seemed to come back again at the line.

“He was a very good horse on the Flat and we have gradually built him back up again.”