Report from South Cornwall Point to Point held at
Trebudannon St Columb on Sunday 16th May 2004.
A lovely dawn so
we will leave early for a five minute trip up the road to get out in the fresh
air and take up our position for today's meeting of the South Cornwall Hunt
which I understand will be the last one under that title. The sun is blazing down and the stripes in
the grass are being adjusted and all is looking well for some good racing. The course has been well watered and a lot
of work has gone into producing good going with firm in patches. Plenty of grass and what a beautiful sight
this arena makes. Six races on the card
so it is sit back and enjoy time.
The first race is
the Intermediate Race with seven going to post. The favourite will be between F Wilkins's HEISAMODEL (M Miller)
and E Thompson's STATE MEDLAR (R Woollacott) of which I chose the latter and
this proved not to be the right decision.
Off they go and all was well until the fourth where M Lethbridge's BY MY
SIDE (T Bishop) decided he had had enough and pulled up. The two greys led the field for a while, D
Turner's SILVER MAN, jumping well, (Mandy Hand) and my STATE MEDLAR then comes
Sue Young on her LIRKIMALONG. All
jumping well and a good pace. Along the
home straight for the final time and noticeably HEISAMODEL is taking closer
order. Down the back straight SILVERMAN
is just grabbed by HEISAMODEL. Final
open ditch and HEISAMODEL leads over it by a couple of lengths followed by
SILVERMAN and STATE MEDLAR. Two out and
STATE MEDLAR gets the better of SILVERMAN but HEISAMODEL is gone for home. LIRKIMALONG overtakes SILVERMAN to get into
third position. HEISAMODEL by two
lengths from my STATE MEDLAR and three lengths back to LIRKIMALONG. Not so good as yesterday but there is time
for improvement.
The Open Maiden
race for five, six and seven years old sees eight go to post and there was a
little mix up about the distance of this race but eventually all agreed it was
to be the three miles. I had already
placed my investment on the Heard's NDITLIR (L Heard) so it mattered not to me
whether it was two and half miles or three as I was sure this one was going to
win after his bad luck recently when falling at the last. Ruth has chosen Alex Charles-Jones (of
course!) who will be on T Boon's JOYFUL JADE and as the granddaughter is called
Jade that is good form to follow!! The
favourite is David Pipe's STUDENT NIGHT with Ashley up. Lots of things happened in this race and
only two finished. There was a stewards
enquiry and the result was allowed to stand.
NDITLIR led the field at first and a steady pace was set. STUDENT NIGHT joined NDITLIR and JOYFUL JADE
also came up to the leaders. Suddenly
Ashley went out the side door leaving JOYFUL JADE in front followed by NDITLIR
and the field became stretched out. In
third spot was Rame Fell's LITTLE LORD LEWIS (C Heard) and then the
others. Up the home straight it was
JOYFUL JADE followed by NDITLIR going well with LITTLE LORD LEWIS trying to get
on terms. Paul Tylor's GOOD GRACIOUS (T Dennis) was pulled up. Terry Long's BALDHU MYNA (M Woodward) was
pulled up. The last fence in the home
straight was bye-passed as it was damaged in the previous round and it was here
that JOYFUL JADE was seen to be pulling up leaving my choice to go on. Oh Oh! not so - jockey error. Not pulling up but thought he had
finished. On you go Alex but I am
quietly relieved as my investment carrier is now well to the good and going
well with JOYFUL JADE chasing hard.
LITTLE LORD LEWIS runs out at the next fence or did he just pull up but
he is not racing for sure. With two
fences to go Liam was tiring in front and Alex was closing on him. At the final fence it was JOYFUL JADE who
had a commanding lead and took the race away from NDITLIR by ten lengths. This was Alex Charles-Jones's one hundredth
winner and he was allowed to keep the race and because he won he was not fined,
so alls well ends well but not for me or the tin!
The Confined Race
was one of the better races of the day because of the seven runners. Anyone of them was capable of winning it -
well maybe not quite but E Wonnacott's ELEGANT LIGHT (Sarah Gaisford) has
notched up some consistent good form as has the Elliott's best turned out MYSTIC WARRIOR (T Cave) and Mike Weir's
TENINAROW (R Darke) Sarah set a good
pace on ELEGANT LIGHT and raced well in front jumping really well. Over the ditch for the second time it was
still ELEGANT LIGHT from NATIVE DRUM (R Woollacott)and MYSTIC WARRIOR was now
moving up on the outside. P Mitchell's
MOORLAND ROSE (S Young) became detached but still kept going, eventually being
pulled up. Down the back straight for
the final time and any of the three up front could win this. ELEGANT LIGHT, TENINAROW and MYSTIC
WARRIOR. Over the ditch and Sarah is
keeping this one going but the others are not giving in. Final fence and it is ELEGANT LIGHT and
TENINAROW fighting it out with the former taking the spoils. A really good ride by that young lady Sarah
and she deserved the winning spot.
Tabitha was back in third on my investment carrier but the final
distances were half a length between first and second and another half a length
between second and third. Mrs C Furse's
CHANGE ( T Dennis) was in fourth place.
The Mixed Open had
only three entries and the past form of Ross Oliver's LET'S FLY (Mandy Hand)
was enough to send him off as favourite but the other two have consistently
been in the frame and will not let him have it all his own way. The price of four to six on is rather short
so I will leave this one alone. Mandy
took an early lead on LET'S FLY but Lucy Gardner on Roma Cook's best turned
out HASTEN BAK and Colin Heard on
Dennis William's blinkered MIDNIGHT COUP did not let her get too far away.
This order
continued well into the race will all runners jumping and going well. With one circuit to go Lucy took over the
lead on HASTEN BAK, running and jumping well on her way out into the country
for the final time. She soon established
a couple of lengths lead. Colin was
riding MIDNIGHT COUP now to try and get closer to LET'S FLY but was not making
any impression. To the final open ditch
it was HASTEN BAK with a three length advantage of LET'S FLY with MIDNIGHT COUP
a few lengths further back in third. To
the home straight it was Lucy who dominated and went on to win by eight lengths
from LET'S FLY with MIDNIGHT COUP twelve lengths back in third. That was a surprise win to us and did
nothing for tin or bag.
Now comes the
Restricted race with seven going to post.
Alex Charles-Jones will again be riding the favourite in Mrs Nicholls's
VIRGOS BAMBINO but many investors think that Reuben Chapman's INDIAN RAIDER (A
Glassonbury) will take some beating and Tim Dennis on C Cox's INDIANA JOHN will
also be in the shake up. The start was
then delayed because VIRGOS BAMBINO galloped to the start but without a
jockey. He then decided to cover a few
miles of the surrounding countryside whilst attempts to catch him were all in
vain. Eventually he came to a stop and
was brought gently back to the start line. With the drop of the flag he dashed
off, being well warmed up, into the lead and would you believe it, he remained
there for the whole of the race and won by one and half lengths from INDIANA
JOHN with INDIAN RAIDER three lengths back in third. CATH'S LASS (M Woodward) and GUNNERS MISTAKE (C Heard) were both
pulled up but try as the remainder did they could not get the better of the
favourite VIRGOS BAMBINO. A great
achievement by both horse and jockey.
Finally the eight
years old and over Maiden race. Well
Mary McCarthy has been in devastating form on her two horses this year so I see
no reason why she should not bring home the Frost's WINNIE THE POOH here. If she does then Lucy will have to keep an
eye on her jockey title. The price is
too skimpy for me to take advantage of but she will definitely go off odds on
favourite. Providing MO'S O FRIENDLY
has recovered from a recent fall he should go well and J Holden-White's SMALL
LIR (Sue Young) could be there about but there is no doubt about who's
favourite. Well, at the off Mary made
it look as though she had an early date or just wanted to get home early as a
decent pace was being set by this favourite.
SMALL LIR had a go at leading but WINNIE THE POOH soon got back into the
lead. Open ditch for the second time it
was WINNIE THE POOH and SMALL LIR jumping it together. The best turned out MR RORY unseated
his owner jockey Pippa Moorhouse. Out
into the country for the final time and SMALL LIR was still trying to get ahead
and away from WINNIE THE POOH but did not achieve this. Down the back straight Mary began pushing
her charge and got a few lengths lead as they approached and jumped the open
ditch for the final time. Now to the
home straight. With just one more fence
to jump it was still WINNIE THE POOH with a six length lead from MO'S O
FRIENDLY and a fast finishing SMALL LIR.
Mary is getting better at riding out the finish or perhaps it is because
she has had so much practice of late that she brought home WINNIE THE POOH to
win by eight lengths from MO'S O FRIENDLY and SMALL LIR was half a length back
in third. Well done, a good ride and a
deserved win.
The sun is still
shining as we begin to pack up but it has been a lovely afternoon although the
tin will return home with less contents than that which it arrived, we have
enjoyed ourselves. Ruth can loan me
some if needed.
Next week it's up
to the Dulverton Farmers' meeting at Mounsey Hill Gate on SUNDAY, SUNDAY,
SUNDAY May 23rd. Its unusual
but BE THERE!
Fred and Ruth