Live in the Dream is a dream runner for Adam West as Pontefract Racecourse is up and running for new season

With children on their school holidays, the little seen Easter Racehorse made a rare appearance handing out Easter chocolate to those on the course, writes Richard Hammill.

The feature race was the £30,000 Yorkshire Wonder Horse Handicap and Live in the Dream, the sole runner on the card for Epsom handler, Adam West, made the long journey home go a little quicker.

Under an attacking ride from Sean Kirrane, the winner burst from the stalls and never saw another rival, revelling in the soft ground and readily seeing off all challengers.

With a classy field in behind, the winner looks well placed to follow up granted similar conditions and has the Epsom Dash on his radar.

Epsom was also in the forefront of the minds of connections of runners in the EBF High-Rise Maiden. The race has a rich history with Derby winner High-Rise taking this race en route to Epsom.

Two of the runners in the line up this year, Crystal Mariner and Legacy Power, currently hold entries for the leading classic and both ran races full of promise to finish third and fourth behind the all the way winner Knockbrex for the Charlie Johnston yard.

The winner is not currently entered in the Derby but has clearly come on a huge amount for his racecourse debut at Newcastle. Making all the running, the son of Ulysses was never in any danger and stretched clear to collect by three-and-a-half lengths.

There was a double on the card for the trainer/jockey combination of Ben Haslam and Graham Lee.

Wen Moon got the ball rolling in the Napoleons Casino Bradford Handicap, being finessed into the lead close home under a super cool ride from Lee. The double came in the last race when Do I Dream followed up his course and distance victory in 2022 when scoring by half a length.

Second-placed Agonyclite ensured that it was a clean sweep for the Haslam yard.

The first round of the 2023 Stayers Championship remembered course favourite Jamaican Flight, who won four times at the track at the turn of the century.

The handicap race over 2m2f was won this year by Bob Brookhouse’s Champagne City who made every yard of the running, very much in the same style as the horse who the race was named after.

Now protecting a 100% record with runners at Pontefract, the trainer will look at other races in the Stayers Championship for the winner who clearly relished the track.

The opening race on the card went the way of Claritudo for trainer Harry Eustace and winning owners Jackson XV. The winner came from last to first under a confident ride from apprentice Kaiya Fraser.

It was the winning jockey’s first ride at Pontefract and he produced an accomplished performance having been held up off the pace. The jockey, a graduate from the British Racing School in Newmarket having volunteered at Brixton’s Ebony Horse Club, is clearly a talented rider and all at Ponte look forward to following his career with interest.

There were some particularly exciting finishes on the card with the best finish of the day in the Northern Commercials Novice Stakes. Three horses passed the line separated by just a head and it was Richard Fahey’s Indian Falcon who just get the verdict for Jack Garrity.

Pontefract’s next meeting is on Monday, April 24 and features the Pontefract Marathon over 2m5f – making it the longest handicap race run on the flat in this country. Tickets are available from the website (pontefract-races.co.uk).