One of the great charms of midweek racing around our smaller tracks is the opportunity to identify leading performers of the future as they build a reputation quietly and without fanfare. That’s not to say we don’t enjoy our feature races at Ludlow, but the gems are often to be found in the supporting races.

Take the CLH Premier Print Maiden Hurdle last Thursday for example – both divisions of it, with contrasting results. In the first division, amid the foggy gloom of a January in Shropshire, the well-backed Catchintsavo under Sam Twiston-Davies led from four out, and scraped home by a neck from the doggedly persistent Seaniecon, out of Jackdaws Castle. Both had drawn 32l clear of the third.

In the second division, Mondoui’Boy, an expensive purchase in the summer on the back of some strong form at Punchestown, was altogether more impressive, shaking off the challenge of Island Bridge to win by 4 1/2l with plenty in hand under Ben Jones for boss Ben Pauling. The winner, winning on debut over obstacles, is being aimed at the Liverpool Spring meeting.

Two maiden hurdlers, both in the ascendancy of their careers, launching themselves at Ludlow – we love it!

Three chases punctuated the card, including the first of our hunter chases. Opening the card was a 3m handicap for conditional riders, in which Toby McCain-Mitchell, a scion of the McCain dynasty, used his wide-ranging experience to bring Annie Express to a comfortable 4 1/4l victory over the O’Neill-trained Anytrixwilldo. The field was well spreadeagled, the other distances being 8l and 5 1/2l.

A 0-105 handicap over a half mile shorter distance was the mainstay of the card, this won pretty readily by Isabelle Ryder on Move With The Beat. The confidence with which the 7 year old won wasn’t matched in the market, the winner returned at 8/1.

With the government’s pending Animal Rights Act once again shining a light on the vulnerability of Point-to-Point racing to any trail-hunting ban, it is reassuring to see racecourses like Ludlow, Stratford, Leicester, Fakenham and Hexham supporting hunter chases. Early season fitness is key to these events, where the cream of the amateur division may have its sights on the big Spring prizes. Java Point, fit from running in a handicap chase in December, made the most of this advantage and the downgrade in class to win by 2l from a late-finishing Fil d’Ariane. Frederick Philipson-Stow was in the plate.

The murky fog did not happily extend as far as the winning line, and the judge was rarely troubled by a neck and neck finish. Railway Bell was an easy decision in her 3l victory in the mares handicap hurdle, a 53rd season tally for Fergal O’Brien and stable jockey Jonathan Burke. Marginally harder was the 3/4l winning distance of Stars Align in the finishing bumper for trainer-rider combo Nicky Henderson and Freddie Gordon. In truth though, the winning distance could have been considerably greater over the Anthony Honeyball – trained Steal A Glance, who looked one-paced by comparison.

Yet another debutant to keep an eye on from Ludlow.