Racing: Eddery raises tempo

PAT EDDERY increased the momentum of his campaign to defend the Flat jockeys' title by riding a short-priced, wide-margin treble at Brighton yesterday. His three winners, Interim, Blurred Image and Chocolat de Meguro, all started at 8-11 and scored by a combined total of 24 lengths.

The Guy Harwood-trained Chocolat de Meguro was the most impressive of Eddery's trio, cruising home in the Pyecombe Maiden Stakes by 12 lengths. Harwood has taken the race several times in recent years, most notably with Cacoethes, who went on to finish third to Nashwan in the 1989 Derby.

The trainer's assistant, Geoff Lawson, said: 'We thought it might be too soft for him. He will get a mile and a half and maybe further. The Derby is too much to think about yet but he has shown he can act on this track, which is almost a dead ringer for Epsom.'

At Leicester, the ex-champion Michael Roberts got his freelance career off the mark when Cavers Yangous produced a telling burst to take the Gadsby Handicap.