There was Irish success and some great winners celebrations when the Tony Martin-trained Alphonse Le Grande won the Duke Of Westminster Supporting The Chester Plate Handicap for the Bet Small Win Big Syndicate on Friday.

William Buick was on board the 17/2 chance who came into the race off a near-two-month break after an impressive win at Dundalk. For good measure, Martin also saddled the runner-up Hamsiyann (5/1), who was partnered by Oisin Murphy.

The result was some consolation for Martin, coming half an hour after his Zanndabad was a fast-finishing third in the Chester Cup.

More significantly, Martin is due to start a three-month suspension next week.

He originally received a suspended six-month ban last December for a third breach of the anti-doping rules in four years. He was also fined €10,000. The verdict from the Referrals Committee was appealed both by Martin and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, who had brought the case against the trainer.

The Appeals Committee heard the case at the end of March and decided to uphold the six-month ban, but with only three months suspended. The fine was unchanged.

Post script: The suspension was due to start on Wednesday, May 15th. Martin applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the decision but this was refused on Thursday, May 16th and the suspension kicked in immediately.