Shades of Midnight wins at Kelso

While his sister Ellistrin Belle ran unplaced at Musselburgh last Monday - overburdened by a 12lb hike in the weights - Shades of Midnight brought a ray of sunshine to Dodlands Steading on a weekend of high winds, dark clouds, rain and snow.

And what a thriller it was for owners the Potassium Partnership who were clearly in the know as they had hired a racecourse box for the occasion. Settling the gelding in midfield with the aim of improving his jumping, Shades of Midnight travelled reasonably until the pace quickened 4 out. Shaken up by Callum, Shady responded to get to the heels of the leaders, only to 'miss' 3 out. However, Callum had his mount well balanced and urging him along, his jumps at the second last and the last were his best yet in public, and he stayed on well to beat previous winners Thorpe and Vinnie Red.

Realistically, he'll now need more experience to be competitive off his handicap mark, but we may look for further novice hurdles over a longer trip. We still feel he'll enjoy good ground that much better.

He remains progressive.

Oh, and the heavy ground was no place for Snapping Turtle so we pulled him out. He's in at Musselburgh on Friday (up in grade), so he may go there.

Winning novice hurdler Shades of Midnight