THE Mason magic worked again on Saturday with a red letter day double at Doncaster.

Norman Mason and his assistant/jockey Richard Guest, successful at Haydock the previous week with Red Striker, did not run him in the Great Yorkshire.

It was two others with the permit holder's favoured lucky prefix - Red Imp and Red Ark - who took the two mile handicap hurdle and later the handicap chase over the same trip.

Guest rode both wide on the track in search of better going, describing the ground after the opener as "barely raceable." Red Imp bypassed the tiring Noshinnanikin, one of our 12 to follow, on the run in of the hurdles race and Red Ark, in the colours of Mason's wife Dorothy, won for the first time since November 2000.

The Brancepeth pair added another novice handicap chase at Newcastle on Wednesday with Nephite, but the stewards afterwards spotted that the winner had worn a nasal strip, against the rules, and fined Mason £220.

As for Aintree hero Red Marauder, Guest said he was a little behind in his National preparations and may go straight to the race in March without a previous run, unless a charity race can be organised.

Friday's Doncaster meeting saw Andy Crook's Ryalux, another of our dozen, runner up to Martin Pipe's Gun 'N Roses II. Noshinnanikin is due to run again tomorrow at Wetherby (1.05) with Benbyas, also from our 12, in the 2.45. Gralmano (3.45) and Altapeter (4.0) hold entries at Uttoxeter.

Ferdy Murphy sent Birkdale to Ireland to contest the IAWS Thyestes Handicap Chase at Gowran Park last Thursday, but the raid was foiled by Charlie Swan's This Is Serious.

Murphy felt that his runner-up might have been short of a prep race earlier when Wetherby was called off. Birkdale is due to contest the Singer & Friedlander National Trial at Uttoxeter tomorrow and should go close.

Murphy won at Plumpton with Pealings (Mick FitzGerald) the same day and at Folkestone last Friday with Lord Khalice (JP McNamara), both from his Newmarket satellite yard.

At Musselburgh, the West Witton handler took the opener with Khan Kicker, ridden by Adrian Maguire.

Edwin Tuer with Bula Rose at Doncaster and Fred Kirby with Sound Of Cheers at Newcastle made welcome returns to winning ways. Both had bad times during the foot-and-mouth crisis, losing stock, and these successes were particularly sweet. Bula Rose heads for the Cheltenham Festival but may have another race first.

Brian Ellison was pleased with Batswing's Musselburgh win, which makes it two out of two over fences. He now goes for the Arkle or the Grand Annual at the Festival, but may take in another en route at Sedgefield.

Pity jockey Jim Crowley, who broke a collar bone on December 27 and returned to race riding on Monday, only to re-break the bone in a fall at Musselburgh on Wednesday.

On the all-weather, Patrick Haslam, who has for several years made a speciality of scooping sand success, watched his son Ben in his first public ride and later won with the Lee Enstone-partnered It Was Meant To Be.

He and fellow Middleham men Karl Burke and Mark Johnston took Southwell races too, while Jedd O'Keeffe's young apprentice Leanne Kershaw won again last Thursday on Aberkeen, the horse which gave her a career first victory.

Steve Kettlewell saddled his last runners at Lingfield on Wednesday, but with no success for the Middleham trainer. Julie Craze has also announced she is quitting training and was to saddle her final runner Tom Tun yesterday as we went to press.

And another to announce his retirement this week was Jimmy FitzGerald, the doyen of jumps trainers who, like Peter Easterby before him, will hand over the reins at Norton Grange to his son Tim later this year.

FitzGerald senior, 66, has trained for 32 years and, since his first winner, Archer, on August 2, 1969, has won nearly 1,200 races, including 343 on the Flat. He insisted he is not retiring from racing, as he will still be "doing the hard work, like harrowing the gallops."

THE WEEK'S WINNERS

Key: All racing is now National Hunt (jumping) except for Flat racing on all-weather surfaces (AW); * = evening meeting; f = furlong (8f = 1 mile); chs = steeplechase; hdl = hurdle; NHf = National Hunt flat race (bumper); mdn = maiden; nov = novice; juv = juvenile; hcp = handicap; amtr = amateur riders; cond = conditional (jumps apprentice) riders; Hb = homebred by owner (or one of the owners).

Racing Week's 12 to Follow (TtF): Altapeter (Peter Beaumont); Barton (Tim Easterby); Benbyas (Les Eyre); Dibea Times (Malcolm Jefferson); Fatelhalkair (Brian Ellison); Gralmano (Kevin Ryan); Hindiana (Ferdy Murphy); Major Sponsor (George Moore); Noshinnanikin (Mick Easterby, replacing Banker Count); October Mist (Mary Reveley); Ryalux (Andy Crook); Tyneandthyneagain (Norman Mason).

Thursday last week. - Plumpton: (nov chs) Pealings (trained by Ferdy Murphy, at West Witton; owned by the Exors of the late G A Hubbard), ridden by Mick FitzGerald.

Southwell AW: (8f) Aberkeen (Jedd O'Keeffe, Middleham; Wetherby Racing Bureau 54), Leanne Kershaw.

Friday. - Folkestone: (hcp chs) Lord Khalice (Ferdy Murphy; Exors of the late G A Hubbard), JP McNamara.

Wolverhampton AW: (6f) It Was Meant To Be (Patrick Haslam, Middleham; Mrs B M Hawkins), Lee Enstone.

Saturday. - Doncaster: (hcp hdl) Red Imp (Norman Mason, Brancepeth; permit holder), Richard Guest; (hcp chs) Red Ark (Norman Mason; Mrs D B Mason), Richard Guest; (juv nov hdl) Bula Rose (Edwin Tuer, Great Smeaton; E W Tuer), Graham Lee.

Monday. - No DST area winners at Kempton or Wolverhampton AW.

Tuesday. - Musselburgh: (nov hdl) Khan Kicker (Ferdy Murphy; E H Birkbeck, A Stewart, Sir David Landale), Adrian Maguire; (nov chs) Batswing (Brian Ellison, Norton; Ashley Carr), Vinnie Keane.

Southwell AW: (6f) Pivotable (Karl Burke, Coverham; K Blackham, T Gould & E de Giles), Keith Dalgleish; (6f) Cheeney Basin (Mark Johnston, Middleham; N Cowes, R Holleyhead, P Proud), Joe Fanning; (8f) Sunridge Fairy (Patrick Haslam, Middleham; R Young & Northern Lights Racing), Lee Enstone.

Wednesday. - (cond hcp hdl) Mr Christie (Lynn Siddall, Colton; Lynn Siddall Racing), Liam Cooper; (nov hcp chs) Nephite (Norman Mason), Richard Guest; (nov hdl) Sound Of Cheers (Fred Kirby, Danby Wiske; F Kirby), Kenny Johnson; (nov chs) Lord Sandrovitch (Mick Easterby, Sheriff Hutton; Harold Winton & Gordon Winton), Calvin McCormack