The East enjoy a one-two in Chepstow finale to remain on top

The East remains top of the standings at the halfway stage with an overall points tally of 395 following night three at Chepstow on Thursday, while London & The Souths sit second on 379, with Yorkshire third on 353 and Scotland fourth on 328.

Heading into the finale at Chepstow, Race 21, The East had been relegated to second but surged back to the top with a one-two as Crowd Quake led home Salamanca City. Trained by Stuart Williams and ridden by Marco Ghiani, Crowd Quake stayed on well in the closing stages to notch his sixth win of 2025.

"I am very grateful to be part of the team," said Ghiani. "It was great to get the call-up today and I am very pleased to ride them a winner.

"He is improving with each run. He is a laidback horse who will grow physically and mentally. He was not doing too much in front, pricking his ears, and I always had him in a nice rhythm.

"They came to me quite early, but they did not pass me, which allowed me to get him into top gear. He galloped home well and the cut in the ground was a help."

Following a maximum 80-point haul in Race 12 at Wolverhampton, Yorkshire had another evening to remember, winning Race 15 with the Adrian Keatley-trained Roberto Caro and Race 18 with Jane Chapple-Hyam's Flag Of St George.

Leonna Mayor's side bagged 156 points on the night, bettering its previous best of 148 at Newcastle in 2023.

Mayor said: "I have been doing this a long time, during which a few team captains have come and gone! It is a tricky job as I can't make trainers or owners run. The only thing I can do is choose from the horses who have been entered and then encourage people to run.

"I cannot take too much credit for the joker at Wolverhampton as both horses were short in the betting and then ran to form, which was amazing. Today has shocked me a little I must say, but it is great to have two winners for two really nice sets of connections."

London & The South also had two winners on the card, including Great Acclaim, who backed up quickly from his success at Glorious Goodwood in Race 17 under Charlie Bishop. Trained by Eve Johnson Houghton, Great Acclaim was winning his third Racing League race following success at Chepstow and Windsor last year.

Shamrock Bay had got the ball rolling for London & The South in Race 16, overcoming The North's Lir Speciale in a ding-dong finish. The victory ensures Richard Kingscote heads the jockey standings on 186 points from 16 rides so far, with The East's Daniel Muscutt next in on 132.

Winning co-trainer Daniel Kubler said: "Shamrock Bay been second three times this year, so he deserved that.

"We have had to be patient with him. He was sold to go to Hong Kong, but the deal fell through last autumn. It is great for the owners that he has come back this year and paid his way.

He is a nice horse who has learnt how to race this season and today I thought he was very professional."

Defending champions Wales & The West have kept themselves in the hunt thanks to a successful joker play on Beylerbeyi in Race 20, leaving Jamie Osborne's side in fifth place on 304 points.

Osborne said: "I highly doubt we are going to win the competition, but it is still nice to have winners, especially in Wales!

"There might be a mathematical route to win but it is going to be fairly exotic, so I would say we have no chance. Winners and prize money for our owners will be the aim for the rest of the competition.

"Last year we came in with a group of well-handicapped horses that had been saved for it, whereas this year the new rules have enabled the other team managers to recruit well-handicapped horses. On top of that, we have underperformed. We came here thinking we had live chances and a lot of things have gone wrong."

Jessica Harrington provided Ireland with some winning ammunition as Billie Be Quick landed Race 19 under a well-judged ride by Daniel Tudhope, leaving the 2023 champions are sixth in the standings on 291 points.

Racing League standings after night three:

The East – 395pts

London & The South – 379pts

Yorkshire – 353pts

Scotland – 328pts

Wales & The West – 304pts

Ireland – 291pts

The North – 235pts