RACING enthusiasts in the Cardigan area and further afield were smiling all the way to the bank after a local horse came up trumps at attractive odds.

King Alfonso, owned by Mrs Gillian Davies of Llangoedmor, trained by Dai Burchell at Ebbw Vale and ridden by 21-year-old west Wales jockey Ben Jones, was entered in a handicap chase at Cartmel in Cumbria - a round trip of around 500 miles.

The 11-year-old gelding, popularly known to connections and many people in this neck of the woods as ‘Alfie’, ran in the William Hill Extra Places Every Day Handicap Chase over two miles one and a half furlongs offering a first prize of £9,747.

Earlier in the day the major bookmakers quoted Alfie at 12/1, a price snapped up by many punters until the odds came down to 8/1 at the off.

Fast-rising jockey Jones, whose father Dai Jones is clerk of the course and groundsman at the Ffos Las racecourse, settled Alfie in the middle of the 11-runner field.

The rider drove Alfie up to join the leaders two fences from the finish, led approaching the last obstacle and went clear to win by six lengths.