Racing: Barnes back on track

CHESTER BARNES, Martin Pipe's assistant, returned to the racecourse yesterday for the first time since suffering a heart attack. He was soon back in the winner's enclosure, welcoming the stable's Bold Stroke after his victory in the novice hurdle at Newton Abbot.

'I've lost a stone in weight and I'm now hoping Martin will put me up on one of his in an amateur hurdle, because the way some of his jockeys have been riding, I'm sure it's not the horses,' Barnes said.

The winner was bought out of John Dunlop's yard for 36,000 guineas at the Newmarket Sales.