CHEPSTOW was in the national news last week thanks to At The Races presenter Hayley Moore’s skilful, courageous and successful attempt to stop a runaway horse, writes Jim Beavis.

The culprit was David Evans’ Give Em A Clump, who unseated Fran Berry shortly after the start of a seven furlong race.

Apparently his blinkers slipped out of position and blinded him, making him panic, stumble and deposit his jockey on the turf. That must have knocked them back enough for him to be able to see well enough to gallop riderless for some time.

The horse was fine but on medical advice his rider had to sit out the rest of the afternoon.

Grace Harris scored her second double of the month when Tally’s Son and Bungee Jump won at Chepstow at combined odds of 334/1.

“Both sets of owners have been with me since I started out, so it’s brilliant that both horses have managed to win on the same card at a course where I love to have winners for obvious reasons,” she said.

Harris trains less than four miles away at Shirenewton. The owners of the four-year-old Tally’s Son also bred him. In contrast, Bungee Jump was claimed for 7,000 guineas in March and has won that back already.

It was also a day when Keith Ottesen, clerk of the course there for nine years, officially bowed out. A race was named after him.

He said he would attend the next meeting in a supervisory role.

“Then I am off to France in July. The plan is to take in a stage of the Tour de France on my bike. It sounds mad and it probably is," he said.

In the autumn he takes up the clerkship at Newbury.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Chepstow but all good things come to an end and I am now up for the new challenge that awaits at Newbury," he said.

Milton Bradley’s Englishman won his second race in a row on Saturday at Goodwood.

The handicapper had raised him only two pounds for his Windsor success earlier this month. Appropriately, it was a veterans’ race – that is, the horses had to be aged six or over, and the trainer certainly fits into the equivalent human category, as he is approaching his 83rd birthday. The owner, Eddie Hayward, has half a dozen horses with Bradley.

One of them, Compton Prince, won four races in 2017 but is yet to hit form this year.

There’s summer jumping at Ffos Las on Thursday evening, flat racing at Bath on Friday evening, and more flat action at Chepstow on Saturday evening.

There’s a tremendous amount going on there that night, where The Wurzels are the star turn. The gates open at 3.00 and live music starts from 3.45 with Smooth Operator live on stage.

At 4.30 the Epsom Derby will be shown on the big screen and the racecourse TVs.

Soon after that an Ed Sheeran tribute artist will be performing.

There’s some horse racing too, and that begins at 6.00 and goes on until 9.00.

Finally, The Wurzels take the stage from 9.15pm for over an hour, playing timeless classics such as I’ve Got A Brand New Combine Harvester.