Photo-finish in Derringbay’s favour. Tony Proctor’s mount pips Top Level in the final race of the day. (Picture by Les Perry, 0965501)

ONE of the winners at Monday’s L’Ancresse horse racing meet certainly has a more varied and Continental background than any other.

French horse Derringbay was the victor in the final race, finishing a neck ahead of Top Level in a titanic battle.

The win meant that Bay, as the horse is more commonly known, was the first success by an international horse since the reintroduction of Guernsey horse racing five years ago. And for the horse’s trainer, American Gina Rarick, a relative newcomer to the sport, it was her first success outside of her native land on her first attempt.

She only started out in 2002, juggling her time with her professional career, that of being a journalist working at the International Herald Tribune. It was only two years ago that she decided to quit her media career to focus full-time on her horse training in Maisons-Laffitte, a region on the edge of Paris.

The decision to race at the L’Ancresse meeting was brought about by locals Steve Camm and Steve Butterworth, who owned the lease on Bay for the weekend, after another of Rarick’s horses was not ready for racing.

• Read the full story in the Guernsey Press. See below for subscription details.