Shooting fires on first start for Pipe

Racing: Shooting Light could go to the Thomas Pink Gold Cup at Cheltenham

Shooting Light could be on his way to the Thomas Pink Gold Cup at Cheltenham on 17 November after warming up with an impressive success at the Gloucestershire track yesterday.

Making his seasonal debut and his first start for Martin Pipe, having previously been trained by Pat Murphy, the eight-year-old was always travelling strongly under Tony McCoy before going on turning for home and scoring as he pleased by 11 lengths from Gulshan. Be My Manager, who started favourite, and Capitaine Leau, who was gambled on from 12-1 to 11-2, were both pulled up in the very early stages.

Pipe's son David observed: "We thought he would run well but to win like that, well, it was a bit good wasn't it? He's being entered for the Thomas Pink and the Hennessy Gold Cup today so now it's just a case of seeing what the handicapper does with him."

Pipe and McCoy were completing a double, after Westender had won his fourth race in a row, and in sufficiently good style that he earned a 33-1 quote from the Tote for the Champion Hurdle.

Henrietta Knight, the trainer, and her jockey, Jim Culloty, also enjoyed two wins, with highly-regarded Southern Star in the novices' chase and Stars Out Tonight in the bumper.

* Today's turf meeting at Lingfield was abandoned yesterday because the track was still waterlogged.