SIX winners for Monmouthshire trainers in a week would ordinarily be a very good score, but last Monday they managed that number in a little over three hours.

First to set the ball rolling was Ron Harris’ Powerful Dream at Bath. The mare emerged from a long losing run to win at 16/1 with David Probert in the saddle.

At the same meeting Robert Stephens’ Espresso Freddo defied a shockingly slow start to win over a mile. He was ending a losing run of 21.

By that time Harris and Probert were making their way to Wolverhampton’s evening meeting. When they arrived, trainer David Evans was celebrating a double with Lets Go Lucky and Isobar Wind.

On the same evening, Harris and Probert combined for their second 16/1 winner of the day when the hard-working Viola Park won over six furlongs. This five-year-old must be an owner’s dream. He’s tough, because he has already run 58 times, winning eight of them and finishing second or third on 14 other occasions.

The sixth Monmouthshire success came in one of the later races, when Harris’ useful The Daley Express was another winner for him and Probert.

This weekend, it’s the two-day Unibet-sponsored Jump Season Opener at Chepstow, which effectively starts the winter jumping programme in the UK.

The £50,000 Silver Trophy on Saturday, the second day of the meeting, has a new name attached to it, that of Cotswold Stone Supplies. The family-run Gloucestershire business is making its first venture into race sponsorship, and hearteningly they’ve chosen to do so in Wales.

Another new sponsor at the meeting – indeed they’re new to racing generally – is the Neath-based firm Low Cost Vans, who are one of the UK’s leading providers of commercial vehicles. They sponsor the Robert Mottram Novices Chase, which in recent years has seen Cue Card and Silviniaco Conti launch their fencing careers.

Recent rain means that ideal jumping ground is in prospect, so the fixture should attract runners from the big stables of Paul Nicholls, Colin Tizzard, Philip Hobbs and Dan Skelton.

Local band Rusty Shackle play after racing on Saturday. Tickets starts from £20 in advance.