Esperti rewards David Rees’s 12-hour gamble with Fakenham win

Esperti turned a 12-hour round trip into a winner’s return for David Rees’s eight-horse yard, staying on strongly to land the Woodfordes Supports Dereham Meeting Point Handicap Chase at Fakenham and bank £3,697 for a team that cannot afford many wasted journeys. The nine-year-old bay gelding, ridden by Sean Bowen, beat Prince Cleni by four and three-quarters lengths over 3m 5f 24y on good ground, with Slaney Opera third and Blackacre fourth in the four-runner contest.

The decision to send Esperti north instead of taking a home option at Ffos Las carried real risk for Rees’s small Pembrokeshire operation. Esperti had never previously stayed overnight away from home, which made the trip far from routine for a stable that keeps things deliberately low-key and has built up gradually from four horses to eight. Assistant trainer Callum Griffiths admitted there was understandable uncertainty before the race, but the result justified the fuel, the time and the stress of asking a horse to perform away from familiar surroundings.

Bowen made the gamble look shrewd with a patient ride. He kept Esperti tucked away early, waited for the race to unfold, then moved him into contention before producing a controlled finish to seal the win in 7m 34.67s. Bowen’s timing mattered on a day when he completed a treble at Fakenham, and it gave Rees’s yard a result that carried more weight than the prize money alone. For a stable of this size, one staying chase victory can help balance the books as much as it lifts confidence in the next placement.

The performance also showed Esperti arriving at the right time rather than flashing briefly and disappearing. The gelding, by Presenting out of Elsie, had finished second at Chepstow on 26 March 2026 and had been pulled up at Ffos Las on 20 February 2026, so the Fakenham run marked a clear return to form. Owned by Toni & Dai, Esperti repaid the faith of a small team that had to decide whether the travel was worth the risk, and on this occasion the answer was decisive.