It was a good weekend for fans of horse racing in Devon, as Bryony Frost continued her recent good run with a double at the Welsh Grand National meeting at Chepstow.
Exeter racecourse, meanwhile, survived an inspection on Sunday morning after a particularly cold night on Haldon Hill.
For Bryony, the day started with two of Britain's most renowned newspapers, The Times and Guardian, running very positive features about her personally.
She then rode Pozo Emery and Storm Arising to success at Chepstow. This was a particularly significant double for her as both races were in competitive hurdle races, and she rode an outstanding race, in particular, on Storm Arising, who was beaten on his last start because his then-jockey was criticised for hitting the front too early.
In steeplechases featuring larger obstacles, Bryony has won acclaim for her ability to gain lengths with the way she presents her horse at a fence and her percentage success rate is much higher over the larger obstacles - the ultimate test of horse and rider.
She was third on Yala Enki in the day's feature race over the larger obstacles, the Welsh Grand National, for the second year running.
The horse jumped beautifully but was beaten by a young improving horse who was clearly especially prepared for this race. Yala Enki deserves to win a big handicap chase and will feature in more over the season ahead.
Exeter has had dreadful luck with weather-related cancellations recently and prospects didn't look good for Chief Executive Jack Parkinson and his team when going to bed on Saturday evening.
The morning, however, brought lots of sunshine which improved ground conditions and enabled racing to go ahead.
There is a tradition of good young horses winning their first races in the National Hunt flat races, nicknamed " bumpers" before going onto successful careers over fences.
Flemenstide from the all-conquering Paul Nichols’ stable won the last race on the card, showing considerable promise and future wins will be expected.
Exeter is scheduled to race again on Tuesday, January 19, as horse racing authorities continue to provide live sport, whilst sacrificing race day income with no public attendance permitted during lockdown.