Today’s racing
The seven-furlong maiden at Lingfield’s all-weather meeting looks ideal for the Joseph Tuite-trained Bythebay to secure the first win of his career.
Bythebay, a three-year-old son of Cable Bay, made his debut at this course in January when he was beaten only three-quarters of a length by Too Shy Shy.
He faces 11 rivals including Lanwades Stud homebred Alveda, a daughter of Archipenko trained by George Margarson, and the Jean-Rene Auvray-trained Trigger Happy, who was previously trained by Richard Spencer.
Catterick is due to host a jumps card today but due to snowfall at the Yorkshire venue, an 8am inspection will be held to see if the fixture can go ahead.
Death of Double Trigger
Outstanding stayer Double Trigger, who won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and three editions of the Goodwood Cup, died aged 29 at Clarendon Farm on Sunday from a suspected heart attack.
Sourced for just IR£7,200 as a yearling by his owner Ron Huggins, Double Trigger ended up in the care of trainer Mark Johnston and won by an impressive ten lengths on debut at Redcar before rounding off his juvenile season with a win the Listed Zetland Stakes.
At three, he finished third behind Moonax in the 1994 St Leger and at four he reversed the form with his conqueror when he was five-length winner of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
That success was followed by his first win in the Goodwood Cup before claiming the staying event in 1997 and 1998. The son of Ela-Mana-Mou also won three editions of the Doncaster Cup (1995, 1996 and 1998).
Retired to stud at East Burrow Farm in 1999, Double Trigger switched to John and Sarah Haydon’s Clarendon Farm in 2010 before being pensioned from covering duties in 2012.
Among his most successful offspring were Grimthorpe Chase winner Ikorodu Road, Midlands Grand National scorer Russian Trigger and the Listed-winning chaser Seldom Inn.
In a tribute on his website, Johnston said: “It seems that, not what champions I trained or might be lucky enough to train in future, I will always be remembered more for having trained Double Trigger than for anything else.
“He captured the public’s imagination like no other animal that I have been associated with, and rightly so.
“I was neither shocked nor particularly saddened by the news that he had gone. It had to happen soon, and it happened suddenly without any suffering. To share the phrase which has been adopted as a slogan by the new Welfare Board, Double Trigger had ‘a life well lived’”.
