Report from Dart Vale & Haldon Harriers Point
to Point held at Buckfastleigh Racecourse on Sunday 14th March 2004.
We drove up to
South Devon in pouring rain, arrived at the racecourse in pouring rain and
watched boxes, cars and pedestrians arrive in pouring rain. Those of the committee that inspected the
course at 8 am have decided it is safe to race so race we will. All foul weather gear is carried in the car
so a quick sort out and we were all togged up and ready. We parked where we could view from the hill
in case we had to stay in the Jimny and guess what! Unlike Black Forest Lodge where it was only an estate that slid
down the hill into us, here I was soon
shouting "Here comes another one Ruth!!!" - Bang**!+~* ** - it was a rather large
Range Rover this time sliding down the hill.
It slid passed us at a rate of knots, knocking over the gas stove,
spilling the boiling water, extinguishing the flames and just missing
Jimny. The poor Landrover next to us
caught it but it was a real sturdy model and I think possibly the RR came out
the worst. On goes the gas stove again
and the cheap lot of canisters I managed to get in Newquay are now being used
at a rate of knots. More coffee! The
gap between the two parked vehicles exceeded the width of the RR by seventeen
and a quarter inches; the stove took up ten inches so as you see there was not
a lot of room for error. No one was
hurt but through sheer incompetence a lot of people had their day ruined. I ask you - there was ten acres to park in
and the RR wanted to get in the spot next to us. Had the parking been successful the driver and passengers would
soon have found out that there was not enough room to open their doors which is
generally a necessity AND I would have been claiming for a brand new gas stove
- and I have seen some posh ones around!
The rain stopped instantly as it did not want to fall where there were
such poor drivers and did not interfere with the racing for the rest of the
meeting. Good!
There was a lot of
water showing on the course when the three runners went off for the 'farmers'
race but it dried a little during the afternoon and racing was never in
doubt. Colin Blank's BENGAL BULLET with
Sarah Gaisford onboard was the clear favourite to win this one with Richard
Darke on his best turned out
BARON RIDGE second favourite and Colin Heard on Rachel Welch's LITTLE
APPLE BAY made up the trio. It was
unfortunate that Colin was soon asked to walk back as he became unseated very
early on and left the race to just two to sort out. It turned out not to be such a walk over as was expected by the
prices available in the investment arena and the eventual result upset quite a
few backers of the favourite. BARON
RIDGE came home by three quarters of a length from BENGAL BULLET. I did not wager on this one but had I, I
would have lost! Nothing for the tin
but it could almost be counted as a win!
Division one of
the open maiden saw 15 go to post with a clear favourite in D Chown's best
turned out WILD CHIMES (Nick
Williams) at odds on. This horse ran a
good race at Ottery St Mary and came in two lengths behind Geoff Maundrell on
his HEADWRECKER and on that performance he is tipped very heavily to win this
maiden. I did a place bet on G Fox's
LADY OF JAZZ (A Charles-Jones) and managed to get eight to one before other
people got the same idea as I did and brought the price down considerably. Off they go! The wing of the first fence was in the way of F Matthews's THE
NELSON TOUCH (D Turner) so he clattered through it and called it a day. We lost another one at the third fence and
then I spotted that NELSON TOUCH was still in the race - ah! Well it takes all
sorts! It was F Walkers RYDON BROOK ( J
Snowden) who fell at the first - sorry NELSON TOUCH! The fact that is clear to me is that LADY OF JAZZ is leading the
field as they pass me and out into the country. While others had a go at leading the field it was clear to see
that WILD CHIMES was happy to go along in the middle of the pack. As they passed me for the final time it was
M Holmes's ORINOCO'S FLIGHT that led by
a short head from my LADY OF JAZZ with MISS ZIGGERSON also close up. On they went and with four left to jump B
Willcocks BILTON'S NAP (D Jacobs) was leading the field with WILD CHIMES taking
a much closer order and now in second place followed by LADY OF JAZZ and the
orange colours of S Brown's SURE HOW BAD (L Tibbatts). On climbing the hill BILTON'S NAP was on the
inside and holding WILD CHIMES with SURE HOW BAD back in third. WILD CHIMES and BILTON'S NAP, both now hard ridden, jump the last together and race towards the
line with WILD CHIMES eventually getting the better and went on to win by three
lengths from BILTON'S NAP and SURE HOW BAD a further ten lengths back in third.
Two good horses who gave their all and finished very tired and will certainly
win again this season. Nothing for the
tin or bag and LADY OF JAZZ will have to wait for better going before I invest
in her again.
Twelve to go to
post in division two of the open maiden.
A favourite was not immediately evident as some fancied the best
turned out, The Biggins's EBONY JACK (Geoff Barfoot-Saunt) to bring home
the spoils and some fancied T Hawkins FAR TOO CROWDED (Nick Williams) to do the
same, eventually the latter went off clear favourite. I fancied Gordon Chambers's ON HIS TOES (R Woolacott) and
immediately after I invested this one began to show how much he was on his toes
and I think I saw him running around without Richard for a while but he was
where it mattered at the off. H Bridges
DARCY MAE (L Bridges) took the field along for a while and led over the ditch
for the first time followed by The Just One More Club's POLAR BRIGHT (D
Edwards), G Hill's WILL SHAKESPEARE (Tanya Newman) and EBONY JACK and the
remainder quite closely bunched except for a few stragglers who were finding
the going a little difficult. ON HIS
TOES was still there and going quite well but I would think Richard will maybe
a little tired at the end of this ride.
On passing the judge with a circuit to go I noticed that EBONY JACK was
now being ridden along but DARCY MAE was still out there leading. WILL SHAKESPEARE unshipped Tanya as they
prepared to go out into the country for the final time. FAR TOO CROWDED was now taking closer
order. On entering the final back
straight it was still DARCY MAE but the journey out in front from the start has
been a tiring one and others now seem to be going better. With four left to jump it was FAR TOO
CROWDED now out in the lead by three lengths and ON HIS TOES had made good
progress and was now in second place ahead of DARCY MAE and POLAR BRIGHT. A very good race was now on and up the hill
towards the last fence it was FAR TOO CROWDED leading the way but Richard had
not given up on a very game ON HIS TOES and POLAR BRIGHT was keeping up the third position. The lead of near eight lengths by FAR TOO CROWDED was being
reduced somewhat and at the final fence there was not a lot in it but Nick
Williams found a little more and came home a length to the good of Richard and
Darren on POLAR BRIGHT was ten lengths back in third. A little for the tin as the wager was on each way but a helluva
lot more would have been collected if the first position had been
obtained. O H T owes me and I will
collect as he will surely win soon.
The final division
of the open maiden races saw fourteen go to post and the money was soon being
plonked on D Chown's NOBLE ACTION (Nick Williams) as this horse ran an
extremely good race at Larkhill and was just beaten on the line by WHO'S EDDIE
with KYALAMI back in third. The horse
with a peculiar name was also taking some money and that was P Finn's EUWILUWIL
with Ashley Farrant up who has no recent NH or P to P form. If he has no form how on earth can he belt
round here and cross the line first by four lengths and even leave JOSANJAMIC
fifteen lengths back in third. Another
one for Ashley with Nick Williams on NOBLE ACTION the second horse home. I am
going to recommend that these horses with no form run in a race of their
own to qualify first before entering maidens.
Hopefully in future you may see: The Joe Bloggs's Open for Horses with
No Recent NH or P to P form. Division
One. It will certainly give more
encouragement to the owner/breeder/trainer/rider - runners. You may have gathered I did not pick up on
this one.
The locals fancied
Mike Weir's TENINAROW (A Farrant) to bring home the spoils in the thirteen
runner Intermediate race but it was not to be.
Nick Williams was again in form on P Maltby's LORD OF THE MIST and
crossed the line fifteen lengths ahead of S Prouse's FATHER MANSFIELD (Caroline
Prouse) with TENINAROW four lengths back in third place. I noticed that it is in order for the third
placed jockey to give the second place jockey a tap with the whip when the line
has been crossed, well at least Ashley and Caroline think it is the thing to
do. The time of this race was the fastest of the day so look out for this
winner in a men's open.
Next is "The
Westcountry Champion 'Chase" with a total of £500 up for grabs. Seven good horses will go to post and it is
noticeable that Richard Barber will run three of them. H Geddes's best turned out EASE THE PRESSSURE (Nick Williams), P
Maltby's RED NATIVE (Ashley Farrant) and Axe Valley Racing's RIMPTON BOY (R
Green). Surely the winner will come
from these three. I have chosen Nick
Williams to help the tin out a little.
Money for all three was being loaded on but very little was going on C
Tuffin's JACK THE BEAR (Caroline), P Bevins's LE CURE (J Barnes) and Richard
Kelvin-Hughes's HOBBYCYR (Polly). The race
sorted itself out over two circuits and coming down the back for the final time
the Barber trio were leading the field and anyone of them could win this. They started to climb the hill and from way
back Polly was bringing HOBBYCYR into the race after cruising along in mid
field for most of the way. She began
her effort and whilst we were all watching to see who was getting the best of
the Barber race, Polly crept forward without any fuss. Confidently she rode her horse out to win by
ten lengths from EASE THE PRESSURE, RED NATIVE was a further ten lengths back
in third. RIMPTON BOY finished a very
very tired fourth. The time was only two seconds slower than the fastest of the
day. Neither of us were on the winner
but the price of fourteen to one had been available for quite some time. I will never let Polly start at that price
again!
The Confined Hunts
race saw a good field of six go to post with Tim Winzer's PROVINCE (Richard
Woollacott) being made the favourite just clear of Mary McCarthy's SANDY DUFF. M Rowe's TRAVELLING JACK (Alex Charles
Jones) was also popular and the other three were much bigger prices including
the best turned out Dizzy Doyne-Ditmus's ARCTIC GROUND. Mary McCarthy is certainly enjoying her
point to pointing and no more than the way she rode her horse in this
race. She appeared to be successful in
choosing some of the better ground on the outside and maintained a steady
pace. It wasn't long before it became
obvious that the race was between Mary, Richard and Alex Charles-Jones. The two main protagonist were at it now down
the final back straight but Mary got the better of the duel and came away to go
on and win in a very competent manner by ten lengths with Alex back in third
place. Well done Miss McCarthy and
didn't your horse jump well!
Finally the 13
runner Restricted race. This course has
held up very well considering the amount of rain prior to racing and now we
have another good horse of D Johnson's in VIVID IMAGINATION who will be
attempting to come home through the softer going; Ashley Farrant will be
riding. The other horse that is taking
money is the Axe Valley Racing's LORD ANNER (Nick Williams) who did win his
last race very handsomely and S Stacey's MRS PEGGOTY (Sarah Gaisford) who has
been knocking on the door but no ones' in her form book yet. I liked the way the best turned out R
Harrison's ITCHEN MILL (T Dreaper) won me a little the other day but with VIVID
IMAGINATION in the race I think I will give it a miss. That turned out to be a wise decision as in
the end it was that horse who came home
a distance to the good of H Tutte's JOLIE ROSLIN (F Vigar) and a further
distance back in third was T Pritchard's KNIGHT OF THE NORTH (E Burrows).
Another good days racing and the tin has just about
survived but the poor bag is about to be changed for a much smaller model as
this one will never be filled.
Next week back to
good old Kilworthy and then off up to Ston Easton for the Mendip Farmers'
meeting where I will be putting the mortgage on VERCHENY - BE THERE!
Fred and Ruth