DAVID CHAPMAN celebrated his golden wedding anniversary in style at Ripon yesterday when Torrent, a horse he both owns and trains, won the Total Butler Handicap for the second year in succession, writes Colin Woods.

After receiving the trophy for the five-furlong race, David and his wife of 50 years, Marion, were presented with two bottles of champagne, courtesy of the racecourse executive, to celebrate the happy occasion.

"Torrent is having his second spell with us. We won five or six races with him before Newmarket handler, Phil Mcentee, claimed him for 6,000 guineas. He couldn't make much of the horse so I bought him back for only 1,200 guineas at the Ascot Sales just over a year ago," gleefully revealed Chapman.

"He goes really well for Lisa Jones. She won on him last year and surprisingly I had to ring up her agent to get her back on board. Some of these jockeys have got very short memories," ruefully added Chapman, who sent out his first flat winner, Vivacious Boy, at Beverley in 1972.

Coincidentally there was a similar theme in the Beaumont Ladies Insurance Ladies Derby won by Latalomne, trained by Malton-based Noel Wilson, and ridden by his wife, Nikki.

Latalomne is much better known to jump fans as the near top-class two-mile chaser, who twice fell when holding every chance in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival when in the care of Brian Ellison.

"He came to us after running poorly at the Grand National meeting and that win meant a lot to me, the money was down at 25-1," exclaimed the successful trainer.

The riding honours on the seven-race card went to Keith Dalgleish, who booted home a treble via Spirit Of France, Smart Minister, and Yoshka. The first and last named scorers were for his boss Mark Johnston, out of luck at Royal Ascot where the nap selection, Etmaam, would surely have claimed the King George V Handicap with the benefit of a clear run.

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