IF finding winners wasn’t hard enough on a high-quality card, Ascot racegoers were faced with an even more difficult task on Saturday – spotting their horse, writes Dave Wright.

The course was engulfed in fog, reducing visibility to just a few hundred yards.

For much of the afternoon, only the final fence could be seen from the Ppress Bbox.

The large viewing screens occasionally picked out the runners on the far parts of the course, but it was a nightmare for the course commentator and Ian Bartlett had to admit more than once “your guess is as good as mine.”

Away from the actual racing circuit, however, the weather was fine and there was plenty of Christmas-themed activities and entertainment for the crowd of just over 18,000.

Racegoers, however, were able to witness a bit more of the the JLT Long Walk Hurdle, as the extended three-mile event covered two circuits of the course.

At the business end, it was the 6-5 favourite, Unowhatimeanharry, who passed the post four-and-a-half lengths clear of Lil Rockerfeller, with Un Temps Pour Tout 14 lengths back in third.

The Harry Fry-trained eight-year-old was winning his seventh race in a row, having triumphed at Newbury on his previous visit to Berkshire.

“He did well,” said jockey Barry Geraghty. “He had to work harder here than he did the last day, so it was a good performance. He’s very good, but he only does as much as he has to.”

Sky Bet cut Unowhatimeanharry to 3-1 from 9-2 for the World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next March.

Geraghty completed a quick double for owner JP McManus by winning the next race, the Lavazza Jolie Silver Cup Handicap Chase, on 20-1 shot Regal Encore, who had been pulled up in five of his previous six outings this year.

There was also a double on the day for Upper Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson thanks to Top Notch in the GL Events Owen Brown Graduation Chase and Brain Power in the final race, the Wessex Youth Trust Handicap Hurdle, where stablemate and McManus-owned Consul De Thaix finished second.

The next meeting at Ascot is on Saturday, January 21, when the feature race is the Sodexo Clarence House Chase.