Report from Northern Series Finals day at Carlisle

Well, we enjoyed the day, even if our opinion wasn't sought by the man from the BHA.....

For what it's worth, the five Northern Lights Series Finals races were well contested affairs with exciting finishes. Apart, that is, from Grand National Winning Trainer Lucinda Russell's Forest des Aigles who won his 2m 4f chase final in a canter and looks potentially a classy chaser.
Good to see these races supported by the NH stalwart trainers of the North, and this series is surely worth another couple of years in its' present format. Seemed to serve the purpose behind the original thought.

Paper Roses ran her heart out in the mares' final, just going down by a head to the Crawford Bros' Our Valentina. Nearly, very nearly, but her owners were so proud of their mare. And so were we!!
Elsewhere, Tomahawk Wood put in an improved performance but was unable to quicken after being headed 3 out. Hartforth finished 7th in the stayers hurdle final, and was prominent until losing his place down the far side.

In one of the non-final events, Side of the Road  finished down the field in the 2m 4f novice hurdle. We'll send her handicapping as soon as she gets an official mark.  

All four horses were fine and given a stretch of the legs in the lanes nearby today. Tomahawk Wood nicked his foreleg during racing, but was attended by the racecourse vet afterwards. The cut was superficial. Paper Roses was quite tired, not surprisingly, but well otherwise.