THE Tregaron Spring meeting under BHRC rules as usual drew a wide selection of horses from across the UK, all keen for victory at the picturesque and prestigious venue.

The locals drew first blood, however, when Colin Bevan piloted his first winner of the new campaign with Mahog-any Duke for the Bulman family.

Huw Evans, the long-reigning chairman of the hosting club, had to settle for runner up position here with Home Decision, but gained serious consolation by partnering a quick and impressive double with his own maiden and novice performers, Scoot Around and Jump Jet respectively.

Terry Laventure had his unshakable faith justified when Wellfield Baroness and Wellfield Winston both fulfilled the potential they have shown to take both divisions of the Improver event.

Terry trains both horses at Chepstow for owner-breeder Roy Sheedy.

But all three of the open handicap heats were seized by raiders. Romaine Pearson only brought one horse from Tir Prince, but made the journey well worthwhile when Top Gear II just held Goldwood (Mark Pritchard) in heat 1. Recent York winner Maximillion is not a big horse, but proved again that it's the heart that counts, scuttling home in the fastest time of the day with the ever-cool Steve Lees in heat 2. Andrew Cairns and Twin Town battled home from Baby Sherman (Peter Mather) and the gutsy Rebelwood (Mark Pritchard), netting an impressive brace for Andrew, who had earlier scored with his own maiden, The Weakest Link.

The £1,000 Final promised to be a no-holds-barred affair, but it was Alan Mansfield's terrier-like Maximillion who found a sizzling burst of speed off his 10-yard trail to hit the lead early and, controlling the pace, proceeded to turn up the temperature to scalding in the home straight.

It was an impressive drive from a master in Steve Lees, and an awesome performance from a talented horse who found gears at both ends of the race.

Next meeting: Allensmore on Sunday, May 18, 2 pm.

RESULTS

Going: Good.

Maiden, Div 1: 1 Mahogany Duke (Colin Bevan); 2 Home Decision (Huw Evans); 3 Symlog Derryn Ddu (Patrick Morris). 2:19.6. 3L, sht hd. 9 ran. Owned by Mahogany Stables, trained by Colin Bevan, Llangammarch Wells.

Div 2: 1 Scoot Around (Huw Evans); 2 Fold Flight (Julian Price); 3 Pure Silk (Peter Mather). 2:14.3. 1 L, 2 L. 9 ran. Owned and trained by Huw Evans, Tregaron.

Div 3: 1 The Weakest Link (Andrew Cairns); 2 Radnor Beauty (Mark Pritchard); 3 Silver Touch (Claire Gunn). 2:13.6. 4L, 2L. 9 ran. Owned & trained by Andrew Cairns, Yorkshire.

Spring Handicap, Heat 1: 1 Top Gear II (Romaine Pearson); 2 Goldwood (Mark Pritchard); 3 Kellies Direct (Alan Haythornthwaite) 10 yds. 2:14.9. 1/2L, 1L. 7 ran. Owned by A Allen, trained by Romaine Pearson, North Wales.

Heat 2 (handicap reduced by 10 yards): 1 Maximillion (Steve Lees); 2 Dontstopnowgirl (Jim McInally); 3 Quality Time (Jason Podmore). 2.9.6. 1L, 5L.7 ran. Owned and trained by Alan Mansfield.

Heat 3 (handicap reduced by 20 yards): 1 Twin Town (Andrew Cairns); 2 Baby Sherman (Peter Mather); 3 Rebelwood (Mark Pritchard) 20 yds. 2:12.9. 1L, 2L. 7 ran. Owned by J Byrne, trained by Andrew Cairns.

Novice, Div 1: 1 Jump Jet (Huw Evans); 2 Gone West (Gareth Price); 3 Ystwyth Flyer (Sara Morgans). 2;14.3. 4L, 2 L. 6 ran. Owned and trained by Huw Evans, Tregaron.

Div 2: 1 Bridget Jones (Vikki Gill); 2 Newtown Shine (Terry Laventure); 3 Pru's Phantom (Sara Mould). 2:11.3. 4L, 2 L. 6 ran. Owned by J Linsley, trained by John Gill, York.

Improver: 1 Wellfield Baroness (Terry Laventure); 2 Home Dragon (Vikki Gill); 3 Tinto Yankee (Steve Lees). 2:14.5. L, L. 8 ran. Owned by Wellfield Stud, trained by Terry Laventure, Chepstow.

Improver Intermediate: 1 Wellfield Winston (Terry Laventure); 2 Michelle's Jackpot (John Wright) 10 yds; 3 Havinabud (Andrew Cairns). 2:12.9. 4L, L. 10 ran. Owned by Wellfield Stud, trained by Terry Laventure, Chepstow.

Trot, miles (handicap reduced by 20 yards): 1 Lion Window (Peter Mather) 20 yds; 2 Noble Norton (Alan Haythornthwaite) 10 yds; 3 Noreen Dragon (Jim McInally) 60 yds. 2:53.5. 12L, 1 L. 6 ran. Owned and trained by Peter Mather, Cheshire.

Spring handicap Final: 1 Maximillion (Steve Lees) 10 yds; 2 Kellies Direct (Alan Haythornthwaite) 10 yds; 3 Quality Time (Jason Podmore) 10 yds; 4 Goldwood (Mark Pritchard). 2:11.6. 1 L, hd. 9 ran. Owned and trained by Alan Mansfield.