As part of National Racehorse Week earlier this month, Susan Corbett's Girsonfield yard at Otterburn held a well attended Open Day which showcased her team of horses to follow over the winter months as well as giving the general public an insight into what goes on behind the scenes.

Visitors were able to watch a selection of horses going through their paces on the five furlong carpet fibre gallop as well as farrier, equine physio and vet demonstrations.

Having started out nine years ago with only a handful of horses, Susan has gradually expanded her operation and currently has 23 horses in training, split between Flat and National Hunt, and should have plenty of runners under both codes in the coming weeks.

The star of her Flat string is bargain buy Clear Angel who has seen his official rating rise since January 2022 from 52 to 80. Best on soft ground, his main autumn target is the £45,000 (Class 2) SDDE Smith Group Straight-Mile Series Final Handicap Stakes at Redcar on Saturday, October 7.

A recent arrival is prolific Flat winner Royal Prophet who has been switched to Girsonfield following the decision of Great Habton-based Lawrence Mullaney to quit the training ranks to take up a job at Ballydoyle.

There is every chance the yard will better last season's healthy tally of 10 winners over jumps, with recent additions including Rock Steady Eddie and Champ Royal who were purchased at Goffs UK Doncaster Sales in May and August respectively. The former showed plenty of promise when placed twice from three starts between the flags earlier this year, while the former Neil Mulholland-trained winning hurdler Champ Royal has produced his best form on soft or heavy ground.

Another one to follow is proven stayer Atomic Angel, a winner over hurdles at Sedgefield and Catterick last season, who relishes testing underfoot conditions.

Stable stalwart Wor Verge, who won six times over hurdles in the colours of The Goodfellow Partnership, is enjoying his retirement at Girsonfield, while the ultra-consistent Les's Legacy, who had form figures of 221,422 over hurdles in the first 6 months of 2023, should again pay his way.