The large crowd was treated to some fantastic flapping with a total of 19 runners – also a record number in recent years – competing in the four handicapped races.

And, to spice things up further, four runners from Ireland were added to the mix for what turned out to be a highly competitive fixture, backed up by some equally exciting supporting races.

The Licensed Victuallers Handicap, sponsored by Eclipse Tree Surgeons, run over seven furlongs, saw six go to post. Just In Case led going into the bend, but ran very wide, allowing Irish entry Monday’s Joy to hit the front. With Polanzo and It Takes Time slipping at the bend, Monday’s Joy came home to win easily from Just In Case.

Only three runners went to post for the Peatlaw Handicap, run over a mile-and-a-half, but the punters saw a good race with plenty of money coming in for all three horses. Riverside Rascal followed up his win at Hawick the previous week with a great front-running performance from the talented Andrew Fairley.

The feature race – the Golden Mile, sponsored by Co-op NGT – saw a top-class field of five runners competing for the £1,000 first prize, with the Hawick Tradesman’s winner Red Raider and runner-up Riverside Giant locking horns again.

Irish horse Ben Durkin led from the flag and didn’t see another horse as he soon went clear of the field and won by five lengths from Good as Gold, with the Tradesman’s winner only managing a third place. This makes it the second year in a row the Irish have won this race – they’re sure to be back next year.

The final race of the day saw five go to post for the Forrest Handicap, sponsored by Arpal Maintenance Chemicals, run over six furlongs. After three or four false starts, two runners failed to jump off, leaving the remaining three to do battle, and it looked like the Irish were heading for a treble.

But Hawick-trained Jamron ran on to catch the Rookie inside the final furlong with Scraps finishing third.

Speaking to The Wee Paper this week, Rig convenor Craig Stanners said: “The Rig means a lot to the people of Selkirk and this year they showed their commitment to it by turning out to support it.

“It was great to see everyone up there enjoying themselves in the sunshine and, of course, thanks must go to everyone who worked so hard to put the event on and those who entered the races.”

Credit for the race meeting must go to the Selkirk Common Riding Committee for trying hard over the last 12 months to improve the amount of runners and also to the folk of Selkirk for supporting the event. Hopefully this will be the case in the future and this will ensure that Flapping on Gala Rig goes on for many years to come.