TIM EASTERBY was crowned the Charles Clinkard York Top Trainer at the weekend when Ugo Gregory came home first on Knavesmire.

His hugely impressive 12 winners gave him the title for a second time, having first won it back in 1999, and the wonderful perpetual Skeaping bronze will be heading to the mantelpiece at Habton Grange.

Easterby's victory in the seven-furlong IRE Incentive, It Pays to Buy Irish race at York will also probably edge out the Musley Bank-based Richard Fahey as Ryedale's winning-most trainer for this year.

Ugo Gregory's first place on Friday was winner number 132 for Easterby for the year.

Lewis Edmunds had the ride on him and with the ground in his favour, Ugo Gregory went into the lead two furlongs out, was headed but then rallied gamely to get up and beat the Helmsley-trained Admiralty by a head to win his fourth race of the year.

He was Tim's second winner of the week as he also sent out the four-year-old Temper Trap to win the virginbet.com Handicap over a mile at Ayr on Thursday.

Fahey has had an impressive 119 winners this year, a surprise victor coming at the final meeting of the year at York when Blenheim Boy won the Coral ebfstallions.com Novice Stakes at odds of 25-1.

Costing 85,000 guineas at the Tattersalls Book One yearling sales last autumn, the juvenile had disappointed in his two previous races, finishing down the field in a race at York's Ebor meeting when starting at 66-1 before being beaten in a lesser race at Thirsk last month.

He showed a significant step forward on Saturday for his local owner Phil Smith. Though he ducked right at the start and raced quite keenly early on, Malton-based Tony Hamilton brought him with a strong run in the last quarter-mile to get him up in the last few strides and beat the Hambleton-trained The Cookstown Cafu by a short head with Elsals just half a length further back in third.

Afterwards, his rider said: "A lot of the lads in the yard like him and he's come good today. He liked the softer ground and though he won narrowly he was getting on top near the line."

He was Hamilton's 22nd winner.

Two other Ryedale trainers in the money last week were Brian Ellison, who took the Cazoo Maiden Hurdle at Sedgefield on Wednesday with the odds-on Punxsutawney Phil, and Julie Camacho, whose Proclaimer was ruled to have dead-heated with the Newmarket-trained Coverham at Kempton the previous evening.