A KNOWLEDGABLE crowd gathered to watch a competitive card at Wetherby last Saturday and the trainer to follow was Sue Smith, who enjoyed a fine treble on the afternoon.

The Grand National winning handler kicked-off with Mwaleshi who made a fine start to his chasing career and afterwards Smith said: “He is a very handy horse but he is not very big and we didn’t know if he would take to jumping fences but he was okay, he used his brain.

“He has always been very quick and sharp. He likes it round here and we will look for a novice handicap for him.”

The second winner came when No Planning ran out an easy winner of the handicap chase under Ryan Mania, once again the winning trainer was on hand, saying: “When he was third here last time Ryan thought he would get every inch of three miles.

“Ryan blames himself for the third-last, he didn’t have a stride. But he did it really well.

He enjoyed this bit better ground, he doesn’t want it too heavy.”

A fine day was completed when Blakemount took the concluding novices’ hurdle, for me the most impressive winner of the day, Smith was also pleased, saying: “He is a nice horse with a lovely attitude.

He will stay over hurdles this season and go chasing next season.”

Middleham trainer John Weymes has expressed his delight after stable stalwart Almaty Express was nominated for an award by the Racehorse Owners Association earlier this week.

The veteran sprinter, who has run 143 times, is in line for the Special Achievement award at the ROA’s annual bash in London next month.

A winner at Catterick in July, the 11-year-old is up against Battle Group, Hello Bud, Seymour Eric, Top Notch Tonto and Tropics.

Weymes said: “What a great honour to have Almaty Express nominated in the Special Achievement Award in this year’s Racehorse Owners Association Annual Awards.

“Almaty is no newcomer to the event having been there before when finishing third in the all-weather category in 2011, but whatever this year’s result is, it’s a real honour for him to be nominated a second time.”

Almaty Express, owned by Highmoore Racing 4 & Tag Racing, is a regular at Wolverhampton and has run 91 times at the track, winning on 18 occasions.

The 11-year-old is a complete star but Weymes and his staff deserve plenty of credit for keeping him fit, happy and healthy over the years.

Tomorrow the Betfair Chase at Haydock takes centre stage and what a race it will be with Bob’s Worth making his seasonal reappearance, along with stable companion Long Run who delighted connections in a schooling session on Wednesday morning.

The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero, second in the last two runnings of this weekend’s Grade One feature, finished outside the first three for the first time over fences with a lacklustre fifth in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby.

A subsequent dirty scope was evidence the eight-yearold was not at the top of his game and owner Robert Waley-Cohen is hopeful Long Run will show his true colours on Merseyside on Saturday after watching a session with jumping guru Yogi Breisner.

Waley-Cohen said: “He schooled really well this morning.

Everyone was very happy.

“It’s going to be an exciting day.”

One horse who will not be lining up in the Betfair Chase is the Willie Mullins-trained Prince De Beauchene.

Mullins, speaking at Fairyhouse, also revealed On His Own would not be travelling for the Betfair Cash Out “Fixed Brush” Handicap Hurdle on the same card.

Mullins said: “The two horses entered at Haydock won’t run. On His Own has top weight, so we’ll try to find him something a bit easier.”