Horse racing: Gillies fails on-course breath test

Haddington rider Gillies had been booked for four mounts at the County Durham circuit but a breath sample was found to contain alcohol in a concentration above the threshold level for breath samples.

During the same meeting conditional jockey John Winston was given a four-day suspension (March 18-21) for using his whip with excessive frequency on fourth-placed Emperor Charlie in the Dylan Meale Memorial Handicap Chase.

Meanwhile, Donald McCain reports Grand National hero Ballabriggs in rude health following his encouraging comeback performance at Kelso on Saturday.

The 11-year-old finished second in the Premier Chase 12 months ago before going on to claim Aintree glory, and although beaten a little further into fourth in this year’s renewal – his first start since the National – McCain was happy with the performance.

He said yesterday: “He’s grand this morning, thankfully, and we were chuffed with his run. He ran as well as he did at Kelso last year. Jason (Maguire) actually thought he ran a bit better, so we’re all happy. I tried to warn people and tell them that he would come on for the run.

“They’ve just gone a very slow gallop and then sprinted at the finish and he’s just got a bit tired and flattened out a bit. He’s where we want him to be at this stage and he’s absolutely fine this morning, so we’ll kick on from here. He’ll go for a racecourse gallop somewhere between now and Aintree.”

Maguire was equally thrilled with the performance. He said: “Last year when he got beat (at Kelso) I was a bit disappointed, but Donald said don’t be worried about it.

“This year I felt he probably travelled longer and he ran just as good if not better. He travelled really well and jumped well, apart from the ditch.

“He’s quickened up well and going to the elbow it looked as though he would go and win, but he’s just got tired and I haven’t knocked him about.

“He was entitled to have a good blow, as he hadn’t run since Aintree. I didn’t want him to have too hard a race.”

Ballabriggs remains unchanged at 16-1 with Paddy Power for a Grand National repeat next month while Ladbrokes took a contrasting view and cut him to 12s from 16s.

Master Of The Hall’s victory will have provided some small consolation for McCoy and trainer Nicky Henderson after favourite Captain Conan was turned over in the feature at the totepool Premier Kelso Hurdle.

The 7-4 favourite was on something of a retrieval mission after unexpectedly flopping in Grade One company in Ireland last time.

Captain Conan had previously won the Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown and he looked set to add Grade Two glory to his tally after taking up the lead before the penultimate obstacle. But Captain Conan began to toil and that gave Tap Night (9-4) a chance to grab the spoils.

Lucinda Russell’s charge did not need a second invitation and responded to Peter Buchanan’s urgings to wear down Captain Conan and pull two lengths clear.Tap Night, who was recruited from the Flat in America, is not entered in any of the big novice events at Cheltenham but is engaged in the Coral Cup. Russell and Buchanan were completing a double after Degas Art (15-8) – part-owned by Scotland football manager Craig Levein – had earlier claimed the Cyril Alexander Memorial Novices’ Chase.

lBlazing Bailey has been retired after he was pulled up in a veterans’ chase at Newbury on Saturday.

The 10-year-old enjoyed a particularly fruitful career over hurdles, winning major prizes at Aintree and Punchestown in the spring of 2008. He was also placed in two World Hurdles and finished third in the 2006 Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer Alan King paid tribute to “one of the great favourites in the yard, a stalwart who did us proud. All told, Blazing Bailey won 10 races for us, seven over hurdles and three over fences.”