Ex-pointer Companero wins Eider Chase Companero (16-1) put up an incredibly gutsy display to win the totesport Eider Chase. Successful trainer Howard Johnson was quick to praise the ride given to the winner by Buchanan. "I didn't expect Newcastle to be on to be honest, it was very hard work for the horses, but all credit to them they got it on." said a delighted handler. "The blinkers obviously worked and Peter Buchanan gave him a superb ride, he's a true horseman. "He just hunted him round on the first circuit but then Giles Cross took him on on the second circuit. If he hadn't there might have been more finishers. "He was owned by a good friend of mine, the late Mark Black, and his brother Tim was there today. The executors of Mark Black are coming out of racing but they kept him in training because I got quite a lot of money (£60,000) for a Flat horse of theirs, Earl Wild, which I sold so they said they'd keep going. "We had talked about retiring him but after that we might give him one more run. "That's the first time I've won the Eider and I've had a fair few runners in it down the years."
