RACEGOERS who stayed on at Chepstow on Saturday evening for the concert given by The Wurzels went home happy, although there was one local trainer who left ruing the latest in a series of near misses.

Robert Stephens was out of luck in the first race when his Ancient Longing was run out of it in the last furlong by Sula Island, a gambled-on Alan King horse. The same day he sent Three Colours Red all the way up to Hexham to run in a three mile hurdle and that one also went close, losing the lead on the run-in. And during the recent Bank Holiday weekend another of his horses, All For The Best, made the journey to Cartmel, in the Lake District, and was five lengths up at the final flight only to be overhauled in the last hundred yards.

While Stephens’ long-distance travellers run well, last jumps season he did best at Worcester, where his record was 3-12. One of those three was Mile House, one of the highest rated horses in the yard. The trainer demonstrated his skill by bringing him back from a 669-day absence to win there in August. He’ll hopefully be in action again this summer.

Stephens trains on the family farm at Penhow. He rode about 40 winners when he was attached to the Philip Hobbs yard before going to work for Sir Mark Prescott and William Haggas as assistant trainer.

He set up on his own in 2013, starting with three horses, and since then has trained nearly 50 winners, flat and jumping.

As with all small trainers, he is looking for that elusive 'one good horse' that will bring him into the limelight.

Essenaitch gained a deserved success for David Evans at Chepstow.

He’d been placed three times at Windsor so far this season, and was only beaten a neck last time. This evening’s soft going suited him.

One for the notebook was Urban Aspect, trained by Andrew Balding.

He was very slowly away in a race over seven furlongs and ran on well to finish third without threatening the pair in front of him. It was his first racecourse appearance, and the distance he was beaten was less than the ground he lost at the start. His owners, the Kingsclere Racing Club, do well with their horses and he is the sort to win a decent handicap one day, probably over further.

Grace Harris has taken the bold step of entering her recent Chepstow scorer Bungee Jump in a race at The Curragh on Friday worth £25,000 to the winner. It would be her first runner across the Irish Sea. The horse has an alternative engagement at Newmarket on Saturday.

Veteran jockey Andrew Thornton retires from the saddle today at Uttoxeter after a 25-year career in which he accumulated 1,006 winners, including a Gold Cup on Cool Dawn.

One of his biggest successes was in the 2007 Welsh National, when he snatched the lead in the last 50 yards in emotional circumstances. As Thornton told the Racing Post: "My Welsh National win on Miko De Beauchene was on a par with Cool Dawn.

"Robert Alner had just had his bad accident [he was left paralysed after a car crash] and I never wanted a horse to win as much as I wanted him to.

"I felt this cannot go wrong. This has to win. Because for me that was better than any medicine Robert could have had."

Chepstow race next on the evening of Friday the 15th, when the Counterfeit Stones will play after racing.