Season five of the Racing League opened in style at Great Yarmouth on Thursday night, with London & The South and Scotland achieving three wins apiece.

It was seasoned campaigner Andaleep, competing for the third year in the Racing League, who headed London & The South's trio of victories, taking the 1m2f handicap for Daniel and Claire Kubler. He was joined by the Andrew Balding-trained Fantasy World and Chris Dwyer's Jimmy Speaking.

Matt Chapman, team manager for London & The South, said: "This is Andaleep's third year in Racing League. He finished second in this race last year and I assume he was ignored in the betting because people thought the favourite Wave Rider had 20lb in hand.

"People say that we don't get to know Flat horses in the same way we do Jump horses, but everyone watching tonight knows Andaleep. He is a warrior and has been superbly handled by Danny and Claire Kubler.

"This has been a good start but, as we know, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Tonight was the first leg and there are a lot of legs upcoming where I can drop the baton."

Scotland made a strong start to the competition with their three winners: Heather Main's Mister Bluebird, the Julie Camacho-trained Solar Aclaim and Charlie Johnston's Pole Star.

Team manager for Scotlandm, Alex Steedman said: "This has been absolutely ridiculous! To be fair, I fancied Solar Acclaim and thought Pole Star would go close, but to have another winner and several placed horses on top of that is nuts.

"One of the ideas when I came is that we would try to give some opportunities to a couple of apprentices. We had a few on show tonight and I thought they rode great.

"We are in great shape, but this is the first of six weeks. Now it is going to be a question of juggling the balls. The best signing I made was getting James Owen on the team, his first time in Racing League. I also still have the genius Jim Goldie up my sleeve!"

With The East, Wales & The West, The North and Yorkshire all failing to record a winner, the standings after week one are:

London & The South – 158pts

Scotland – 156pts

The East – 135pts

Ireland – 90pts

Wales & The West – 83pts

The North – 70pts

Yorkshire – 50pts

The next fixture is Wolverhampton on 31 July.