THE SUN has now set on racing at Littlewindsor after the Cattistock Hunt was held in the final meeting at the popular Dorset course.

After a total of 26 years the course has closed but it was announced that the hunt will be moving to a new course in 2020 at Chilfrome, near Maiden Newton.

It was a day for the local horses with five of the six races being won by horses qualified with either the Cattistock or the South Dorset, with the highlights being a double for trainer Jade Barber and jockey Will Biddick including the final race of the day, a first riding winner for Lauren Reed and a first four-old winner for trainer Harriet Brown.

The Skinner’s Petfood Ladies’ race will be a race that Reed, 24, from Axminster will remember for many a year as she rode her first winner aboard the Rachael Honeyball-trained Chill Factor.

Since starting to ride at the age of five, she has spent her life with horses including a spell with Zara Tindall and Stuart Sampson before joining trainer Anthony Honeyball in 2018.

Chill Factor was the form horse in the race having finished a close second at the previous meeting and he took up the running after the last and had three-and-a-half lengths in hand at the winning post.

Ballyknock Cloud was a very easy winner of the Men’s Open for trainer Barber and Biddick, making all of the running drew right away from his two rivals to record a win by a distance.

Brown saddled her first runner at the course and Filthy Lucca gave her a winner when catching long-time leader the Garrison ridden by Michael Legg in the young Maiden race and recording a five-length victory for rider Shane Quinlan.

Bought by Harriet for £800 at Ascot last July as an unraced three-year-old this was his fencing debut having previously run in one of the Bumper races at Milborne St Andrew and he clearly benefitted from good schooling at

home.

Max Young recorded another victory with Aero Majestic in the Restricted race. Owned by his partner Liz Williams he made much of the running under Josh Newman and when a rival blundered at the second last giving his rider no chance, Newman got a renewed effort from his partner to record a two-and-half lengths victory.

George Hiscock had an easy victory aboard Mister Serious in the Conditions race.

The finale, the Open Maiden race, proved an appropriate duel over the final fence between the Barber-trained Ballyjim and the Christopher Barber-trained Flemenstrix.