Reports from Larkhill (Evening), Bratton Down, Newton Abbot and Bonvilston (Countryside Alliance).
These reports will be short and sweet as we are only now back from a wonderful tour and will be getting ready for The Royal Cornwall Show and then Bratton Down on Sunday. I will say this only once - the weather treated us exceptionally well and even the clouds at Bratton Down were warm some of the time.
For the duration of our out and about we took Mrs Bell's at Bookhayes Farm, Cossington as our base and travelled to each meeting from there. The super breakfasts lasted us nearly all day and then there was the local pub for evening meal. I have never been fed so well since ninety per cent of the crew of a ship I was on were a little green because the sea around was jumping up and down and I had the run of the galley to myself. Having never been sea sick I enjoyed my share and a good proportion of others, including the rum ration, but that's another tale! Wonderful hospitality!
We arrived at Larkhill early to enjoy the wonderful weather and the parachute show the army put on for us plus all the other attractions that had been rustled up for The 14 Regiment Point to Point in aid of The Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal Charity.
Awards were settled at this meeting and no doubt you have read on the Larkhill Awards page who picked up what titles. A very close run thing between ACJ and Miss P. Just three quarters of a length in the final race of the day decided who would be Larkhill champion jockey. Great racing!
The tin did well at this meeting. After losing on the first two races I managed to collect on Polly riding Mrs Bartlett's FAIR WIND. I do not know much about this horse and with form of 'p3rpr25' I didn't like to wager too much but the arena talk was such that it couldn't possibly lose. It didn't! Ten lengths was the winning distance from that consistent grey mare of Mr Young's MAKHPIYA PATAHN (D Turner) with Ryan Bliss on N Thomas's THE CHAIN GANG back in third place.
In the Ladies' Open race only three will go to post but it is good to see Mrs Woodhouse's best turned out BADGER BEER (Rilly Goschen) back on the going he likes so he will be my choice to win this one. Emily Jane Harbour on the Morgan's ICKFORD OKEY will be the opposition as Joy Chapman on her ARTIC BURNER is not quite up to the standard of the others. Well! Would you believe it - a dead heat so whatever I was entitled to is now going to be halved but better than a loser. Out tin and in a little more.
The men's open is also a competitive seven runner race and Richard Burton (top man!) will be on Mrs Brown's BANSHA HOUSE and is taking some of the investors' money but Neil Harris on G Lever's PORLOCK HILL will be carrying mine so a good dive into the tin and out with a fair grasp of the crinklies. Eleven to ten I get and away I go to watch the outcome. It was a warm evening but it was not the weather that turned my brow and other parts of my body into quite damp areas. Whew! A horse with only two figures in a six race form guide was giving Neil something to think about and time for me to start the hands together with upturned face routine. Jane Lomax and L Nowell's HOT PLUNGE (James Owen) is a very worrying factor. To the line the race went, thankfully PORLOCK HILL came out of it a neck winner from HOT PLUNGE. Mary-Anne Dixey's FOURS ARE WILD (Jonathan Trevor-Roper) was ten lengths back in third place. There was a whisper of an enquiry but none came and I placed a little more in the tin.
In the final race which saw seven go to post, it was a case of Polly versus Alex. I chose S Pike's FASHION HOUSE at eleven to ten to pull it off but Tim Underwood's MISTER PEPPER was also taking some of the money so maybe Alex will get the title yet. Phillip York is here to ride J Selby's CAN'T BE SCRABBLE and this horse has been improving and won at a previous evening meeting so maybe he likes twilight time. A very exciting race but in the end it was Miss Polly Gundry who picked up the points in bringing FASHION HOUSE home by just three quarters of a length from Alex on MISTER PEPPER and twelve lengths back in third place was Philip on CAN'T BE SCRABBLE.
The tin is looking good and I believe the bag is not TOO bad off. A super evening of first class racing in good surroundings and company. What more could one ask for? Tomorrow we will be down at Newton Abbot for the professional stuff. I'll put up with it until Saturday at Bratton Down.
Into the race course early to enjoy a nice long cool drink on the balcony in super weather long before the first race We were able to relax and enjoy good company and chat with other p to p supporters about the season and its ups and downs and how sad it is again coming to an end.
We don't use the tin and bag arrangement when we are following National Hunt as minus and plus amounts would upset our seasonal point to point investment programme and that would never do. We do a couple of place pots as Ruth has been successful in the past and then invest a little on each race, Ruth with the tote and me with tote credit. I managed to pick out a couple and Ruth did as well but my afternoon was ruined by the demise of TRACK O'PROFIT. I have always liked this horse and he has been a good servant to his connections but that's racing and life goes on.
A picture in the paddock and an even better picture when coming home to win easily was Ed Retter's KAKI CRAZY with Sarah (Gaisford) up. I didn't see his previous trainer rush over to congratulate Mr Hill or Mr Retter but I expect he did it in the hospitality bar later!
Another who looked well in the paddock and went even better complete with blinkers was Mrs Sanderson's JABIRU who led practically from flag fall to finish and at no time did followers have to be concerned about where he would finish.
Both Ruth and I picked up well when we invested on WAIT FOR THE WILL to come home in front of AP on the Pipe trained odds on MIRANT. I got five to one but no doubt Ruth got a better price.
We came away quite happy with our afternoon at the races and now head back to our base and tomorrow we will take a break and go out into the countryside to view the area that the Mendip Farmers hunt and picnic up on top of the Mendip hills and the next time I go to Ston Easton for their point to point I will know a little more about the area.
At Bratton Down the bag did quite well but the tin did not! Very poor for me - I even failed to invest on the fastest finishing pointer I have yet to see - FOSSY BEAR - didn't she come home at speed and as I heard one clever one say - "from worst to first in a split second" oh! and Sue as well!! The bag picked up a nice little bit on this one. I have to admit my money was on RIMPTON BOY but even Paul Tylor's GURU RINPOCHE (Sarah Gaisford) has improved enough to beat the grey into third place.
I thought the Club Ten's blinkered WOODLAND'S BEAU (N Mitchell) would beat P Maltby's RED NATIVE (N Williams) - wrong! I trusted Caroline to bring home the family's FATHER MANSFIELD in front of Les Jefford on DON ROYAL - wrong! - and Vanessa assures me that Mike Weir's TENINAROW would have beat them all if it were not for a small mistake at the last - so really really wrong!
Richard Woolacott on Robbie Rawle's DOUBLET with a twenty length winning margin, made my invested-on best turned out The Exmoor Partnership's ZATOPEK look slow, which is most unusual.
In Cornwall you either do things 'drekly' or 'zakley', so surely this one will reward me here. No matter how hard I cheered Colin up the finishing straight he could only manage second on Mrs Lawrence's ZAKLEY and that 'never give in' Tabitha Cave rode out a good finish on the jointly owned WINSLEY SPIRIT to take the race by a neck.
I did not have enough left in the tin to wager on the favourite in the last race as the price on the boards was even money so I left Tigger Barnes on the Symes's ERICS WAY to those who had better luck than me to punt on this one. I chose with desperation, an outsider with a starting price of fourteen to one but I am afraid Matthew Vick's PORT VALENSKA will have a small 'eff' in the form book for this race as Derek McKenna didn't manage to survive the hustle and bustle of an open maiden at Bratton Down but this horse is so consistent that he is due a win. He'll have to be quick now! First ERICS WAY!
Here's hoping I do better in Wales tomorrow but it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and the bag custodian is smiling so I will not be repeating my hard luck stories on the way but just hoping for better for me.
Off up the M5, then the M49 then the M4 and at junction 33 there is a small road off through a couple of villages, cross the M48 and into the farm yard adjoining Redlands Park, Bonvilston for the Countryside Alliance meeting - no trouble. Ruth parked besides the only other car and we questioned as to where the best viewing place would be. The occupants were none other than Reece Williams (A very good p2p jockey in days gone by and father of Evan Williams) and his friend Dave Guthrie. Dai Hughes spotted us and took me off to meet the charming secretary Bev Thomas. She made me most welcome and her tent was a great help during the afternoon. Having not been here before I took the opportunity before some showers came to walk the course. The running of previous meetings was evident but a good covering of grass on the top of the course and not so much on the lower level but still provided good going and a couple of wet patches provided soft in places but overall it was to provide first class racing. Eighteen fences to jump and a good finishing straight for all to see.
The only form guide was like one reads in a national newspaper with no descriptions of past races so for us newcomers to this area it was very difficult to follow. The winner of the first race for example just had besides his name 'UU9-2F5' so I had no idea whether it was good form or otherwise. The favourite at even money had form of 'F' so I decided it would be the jockey who would persuade me to invest. Reece assured me that Lucy Rowsell would be the best lady jockey at the meeting and it was R Rowsell's FOGGY HILL that came home 30 yards to the good of 'P5PRUP' B Llewellyn's WISTON WIZO with Paul Shelldrake up and five yards further back in third place was 'RP-CP4P' R Harris's START IT UP with Joe Price up. Yes! the distances were given in yards on the first race but resorted to lengths for the remainder of the meeting. A nice start and a little for the tin and more for the bag.
Polly was here to ride Countess Goess-Saurau's best turned out THE KINGS FLING in the Contryside Alliance Club Members Race for which five will go to post. Even I was up to date with this form 'P-23112' so a considerable amount from the tin was carried to the arena but after seeing that T Vaughan riding B Thomas's JOHNNY'S GONE plus cheek pieces was priced as low as two to one, some of the crispies where placed back in the pocket to be carried back to the tin. Now I am worried as the price on Evan Williams riding Mrs Williams's 'P-4B121' DETROIT DAVY is shortening so maybe not quite so much on Polly. Well I need not to have worried at all. Held up, gently creeping up the field and when it was necessary a run for the line to come home by ten lengths. Now I wished it had all gone on!
The restricted was split into two divisions and I invested in Polly again but was very very disappointed as best turned out Miss George's MAORI CHIEF with form of 'P331' was not in the race at all. Held up at the rear and that is where it stayed - there is probably still time for this horse to make amends this season but keep an eye on it - remember the name as it looked and jumped like quality.
The final race was the intermediate with keen competition being assured by the top jockeys being employed. Eight went to post Richard Burton on Mrs Robinson's AIROSKI was the four to five on favourite followed by Dai Jones riding Miss Mathias's SOHAPARA at six to four then came the best turned out B Brown's PERSONA PRIDE with Julian Pritchard up at six or more to one. The others were much bigger prices. A very exciting race to watch but it wasn't too far from home when the outcome, barring a fall, was obvious. Dai Jones had SOHAPARA doing everything he wanted and crossed the line, whip waving and hollering, a distance to the good of AIROSKI with PERSONA PRIDE five lengths back in third.
We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon although a bit short of form so the tin didn't do too well and the bag was only a little up at the end. We will go back next year if possible as this parkland setting is very nice.
Off back to base and then back to Cornwall to attempt to get up to date before Bratton Down on Sunday for the Tiverton Staghounds meeting. The reports are smaller but did you notice we got the results out after each meeting within a couple of hours whilst we were away from base. We are please with this achievement and hope you are too!
No time for what 'Mother said' as we are off to North Cornwall Hunt Supporters Club Race Night, it will probably be on the flat but we will survive.
See you on Sunday - Bratton Down - BE THERE!
Ruth and Fred
