Potts hits a rich seam as Sizing John lands Gold Cup

Placed behind the mighty Douvan on seven occasions, the seven-year-old – recently switched from Henry de Bromhead to the stables of Jessica Harrington – proved his stamina in a race Brandsby’s Peter Beaumont once made his own with the mighty Jodami.

With six in contention at the last, Sizing John’s win completed a landmark day for Potts and his wife Ann following the success of their highly-regarded hurdler Finian’s Oscar at Exeter.

Though Robbie Power’s mount is in Cheltenham Gold Cup contention, the mid-distance Ryanair Chase is an alternative. “Whether he will stay three miles two and a half furlongs at Cheltenham is another question and I’ll have to speak to Alan and Ann about it, but on good ground there’s a chance he will,” said Harrington.

Final Venture won his second lucrative win of the winter in Dubai when landing Meydan’s six furlong sprint on Saturday for North Yorkshire trainer Paul Midgley and jockey Pat Dobbs. It means the horse has won connections more than £160,000 in prize money from three starts in the Middle East.

The fine form of conditional jockey Tommy Dowson, now attached to trainer Phil Kirby’s Catterick yard, continued with weekend winners courtesy of Transient Bay at Uttoxeter on Saturday and Victor Thompson’s King Of The Dark at Sedgefield yesterday.