IT WASN'T the track's biggest crowd of the year, so spotting the multi- millionaire owners who were in attendance at Musselburgh yesterday was hardly a task of needle in a haystack proportions.
Truth be told, not too many of their number bothered to turn up, but as he often is, Graham Wylie proved to be the exception.
Anyone who ever thought the involvement of the Scottish-born computer tycoon in racing was a rich boy's toy sort of t
hing have been shown to be well wide of the mark, and come hail, rain, shine, or even a cold Monday afternoon in East Lothian, Wylie likes to be there to see his horses run.
He didn't have to wait long for his trek north to pay dividends when former smart Flat campaigner Caravel put a disappointing hurdling debut at Aintree, where he was pulled up, behind him to land the opener and go some small way to justifying his 160,000 guineas purchase price.
"The ground at Liverpool was far too soft for him and this better going has been they key. Howard (Johnson) won't have to phone Sir Mark Prescott now," said Wylie in reference to Caravel's current trainer promising beforehand he would be on the blower to the gelding's previous handler if Caravel didn't do the business.
No matter how smart a horse may be on the level, it can often be a different ball game when they're faced with hurdles, so even although Red Moloney had finished third to Septimus in the Irish St Leger a few months ago, some niggling doubts remained on his first attempt at the winter game, though that didn't stop punters sending him off odds-on favourite.
It wasn't all plain-sailing for the jolly, particularly when he received a hefty bump at the second last, but he shrugged that aside to go on and score by five lengths and complete a double for Wylie, Johnson and jockey Denis O'Regan. Red Moloney also earned earn himself a 33-1 quote for the Supreme Novices at the Cheltenham Festival.
By far the easiest winner of the day was Viper who went off like the clappers in the Play Poker @scotbet.com handicap hurdle and could have afforded himself the luxury of dropping in for a livener at Mrs Forman's on the way round and still won.
For jockey David Dennis, who only needed Musselburgh to complete the set, it was the ideal way of achieving his goal of riding at every jumps course in the country.
Ray Green is another who likes to be in attendance whenever his horses perform and he was also on hand to see Festival King score in the hands of son-in-law Timmy Murphy, a mistake at the final obstacle by closest challenger Cybora guaranteeing a first success in 15 attempts for the winner.
Cybora's trainer Ferdy Murphy fared better earlier on the card when Ewan Williams executed the perfect waiting ride on Kalmo Bay to get the better of Divex on the run-in, while Brian Harding was another jockey to earn plaudits, particularly from trainer Jedd O'Keefe, following his performance on Luna Landing.
The meeting ended with that very rare thing, a Jim Goldie-trained bumper winner, so rare an occurrence indeed that Hillview Boy's victory in the finale was the first for the Renfrewshire handler in a National Hunt flat race. "This is our 365th winner in all and it is nice to have one in a bumper," said Goldie.
Just to prove that all clouds do have a silver lining, the postponement of Punchestown's John Durkan Chase on Sunday was a real blow, but at least we'll now be able to enjoy the re-scheduled event this afternoon.
But for the nap, though, nothing tickles my fancy more than Golden Feather at Fontwell.
