Iron turns into gold

Iron N Gold, a 25-1 outsider at Folkestone yesterday, astonished his trainer and his owners when winning the Kingsnorth Handicap. The gelding was in an apparently hopeless position with just two furlongs to run but then finished so strongly for jockey Francis Norton that the partnership eventually won easily by two and a half lengths.

Trained by Simon Dow, Iron N Gold is owned by A Family Affair Partnership, headed by Charlie Sparrowhawk, who said: "The team includes my wife and grandson, but I backed the second!"

Dow added: "The horse is still a big baby, a long-legged sort with a huge stride. He can get unbalanced and we thought that the track wouldn't exactly suit him."

In the next race, the Alkham Handicap, Queens Stroller got her head in front of rival Jemima Puddleduck only in the final strides for a victory at 7-1.

The filly, following up an amateurs' race success at Wolverhampton, made it four wins so far this year for trainer Charlie Elsey, who totalled only five in 1994. Elsey, who recently moved stables from one side of Lambourn village to the other, said: "It seems to have changed our luck.''