THERE was drama aplenty on the first day of Chepstow’s two-day meeting last week.

Kings Monarch, the 4/1 joint third favourite for a two mile novices hurdle, was never in the hunt and an apparently tender ride from Jamie Moore caught the eye of the stewards.

He was suspended for 14 days, trainer Kerry Lee was fined £3,000 and the horse was banned from running for 40 days under the non-triers’ rule. The pair are going to appeal. Grounds for the appeal will probably state that they were trying to ensure the horse didn’t burst a blood vessel, as it had in a previous race.

By a bizarre coincidence, the same combination were in the news a day later at Ludlow when Tree Of Liberty, a 1/20 favourite, was beaten having suffered the very same ailment. That was the shortest-priced loser over jumps for a hundred years.

Moore said: “It’s amazing how something like that can happen. The day after Chepstow the horse bursts out of both nostrils at Ludlow, which is what we were trying to stop happening with the other horse. It’s wretched bad luck.”

Paddy Brennan, reunited with Cue Card to such great effect at Ascot last month before pulling up in the Ryanair Chase, was riding another Colin Tizzard-trained runner, Brynmawr, in the 4.30 race.

Going out onto the course the horse’s head went back and knocked several teeth out of Brennan’s mouth. It can’t be emphasised enough how tough these jump jockeys are. Ignoring the pain, he rode Brynmawr to finish second. He later admitted: “All I was thinking on the way round was it'd ease the pain a little bit if he could win."

After the race he rang Sam Waley-Cohen, the Gold Cup-winning amateur jockey who has a number of dental practices. He immediately arranged for one of his staff to go back to work and fit Brennan with a set of temporary teeth.

In addition, there was a double for Evan Williams and three winners for Nick Scholfield. The last of them was on Deborah Faulkner’s Beallandendall who repeated last month’s victory in a two mile chase. He’s still rated well below his best hurdles form.

Sadly the fifteen-year-old Paddy The Oscar couldn’t make the frame on Thursday. Not only has the handicapper made it tough for him, but he also finished lame. He’s been on the go for most of the winter and he probably deserves a holiday.

Our local jockey David Probert has been doing well in India and Qatar this winter, notably on Tip nullTwo Win, trained in Lambourn by Roger Teal. Trainer and jockey combined successfully at Doncaster on Saturday to capture the Spring Mile with High Acclaim. This is a consolation race for horses that didn’t get into the Lincoln, but it was no consolation for punters as the 50/1 shot held on by a neck.

The David Evans yard has been hitting the crossbar lately, with four second places in the last week. He will have runners at the valuable Bath and Lingfield meetings on Good Friday.

Gracious John has a good record at the Surrey track, where all of his wins have come over five furlongs. Friday’s race is over six, but the prize money is too good not to have a go. His two-year-old Disruptor may make his debut at Bath and could be worth watching.