At Epsom, Night On Earth wins in the Betfred Handicap

Over Epsom's five-furlong sprint track, speed is everything, and Night On Earth proved he had what it takes to win the opening handicap.

The six-year-old, trained by Ian Williams, flew out of the stalls and crossed the track to the stands` rail before continuing to rattle along out in front.

From that point on, nothing could catch up with it as Night On Earth defeated the Karl Burke-trained Looking For Lynda, who had attempted to follow the leader the entire way, by a length and a quarter.

"He’s got a lot of early pace and he put that to good use," Williams said. "He was drawn wide today and he’s managed to get across early – he really does have a lot of speed.

"We had worries about Epsom. We weren’t too sure about how he’d manage it, but he’s always struck us as a horse who might do well in the Dash and I think he coped with it better than we expected. Chester will be the next stop and then we’ll hopefully come back for the Dash."

After joining Williams, Night On Earth had a winless record in his first fifteen starts. However, he found his form this winter on the all-weather track, placing fourth in all but one of his five-furlong starts, and his trainer thinks he's found his winning formula again.

"When he first joined us he was a little bit wild, and I thought we could muster that out of him," Williams said. "With the help of Pat Morris, who had him up at his place for six weeks or so, and Robbie, who rides him out every day, he’s found his punch again. He’s got to be a little bit silly to be at his best."