Report
from the Dart Vale and Haldon Harriers Point to Point held on Sunday 11th
March 2007 at Buckfastleigh Racecourse.
There is Pony racing at this meeting so we had better
leave home early, we did, and arrived shortly after nine at the course. I briskly walked the course and did wonder
how I was the only one doing it and it was only after finishing this energetic
exercise that I was informed that the Pony racing would be after the eight
races that were on the card. A nice warm
bed is too far away so I will now stay and share a coffee with Ruth and discuss
tactics on how to fill both bag and tin and with such lovely weather overhead,
a practically new course that has had considerable work and time spent on it,
we cannot fail. All new ground with each
fence being moved has provided very raceable conditions and although the
approach down to the open ditch is the softest part the remainder will race good to soft.
Considering the amount of inclement weather we have had of late the
industrious ground staff have done a really good job and although the new
maiden runners will probably find it hard to get, the remainder should race
well.
Although my knowledge of breeding (horses that is!) is
very basic I, along with a good crowd, enjoyed the stallion parade and once
again it did not fail to please. Time passes quickly when pleasure is top of
the card and soon it was time for the four runners for the first race to enter
the ring.
The starter got the Members race off on time and a steady
pace was set from the start on their route to complete 19 fences over three
miles. Darren Edwards led Mrs R Welch's
GUNNERS MISTAKE (5/6 fav) over the first followed by Nick Schofield on second
favourite Mrs Killinebeck's AH YEAH but it soon
became obvious that the tack had slipped on this one and the gear was much
nearer the horses head than his tail and was being pulled up. Of the remainder it was D Treneer's
RITEWAY ROUND (C Dalley) that closed up on the
favourite with the Cooks best turned out SIOBHANS
QUINNER (R Darke) in third place. Whilst
GUNNERS MISTAKE was headed for a short while by RITEWAY ROUND the positions
remained the same until coming up the hill for the final time when SIOHBHANS
QUINNER got into the race. He got the
better of RITEWAY ROUND but although a good race prevailed he did not manage to
pass GUNNERS MISTAKE who went on to win by three quarters of a length and
RITEWAY ROUND finished eight lengths back in third. No investment had taken place on that race by
me but I believe the bag owner suffered a little. Early days yet!
Two divisions of Open Maiden Races followed with M
Beck's MASTER ACCORD (L Buswell) and A Cottle's TOMSK (N Harris) sharing the favouritism in the
investment area. I chose TOMSK but it
was Lisa Buswell who showed that her second on MASTER
ACCORD in the mud at Holnicote the other day was no fluke and she brought this Accordian gelding home to win by a distance with Tim Dennis
on the family's CHASING THE STORM (unseated at the last - remounted) the only
other finisher of the twelve that started. As expected these maidens are
finding it difficult to get home on this course today and when I saw TOMSK waiting patiently in
the rear I made a note that I did not expect any maiden to come from the back
and take a race today. He was later
pulled up!
The second division saw B Kilpatrick's MILLENNIUM
ACCORD (G Weatherley) go off the clear favourite and it was not until nearly
'off' time that a considerable amount of money went on the syndicate owned (J Pocock) DANDOOLEY (W
White) which brought him in to second favourite with all the other eight
available at much bigger prices. I
choose G Chamber's best turned out WHAT
A MOOSE (W Biddick) and invested at eleven to
one each way. Once again as the race
progressed so did the numbers pulling up but my investment carrier was plodding
on. A huge sigh went up when the odds on
favourite tipped over coming up the back straight for the final time and
brought down UNFINISHEDSYMPHONY (D Edwards) but Will White had DANDOOLEY nicely
placed throughout and carried on to come home to win by a distance with HILTON
HALL (T Dennis) in second and eventually, WHAT A MOOSE crossed the line to be
declared third. Whew! That was lucky,
for both bag and tin profited that time, but unfortunately the jockey
didn't. The stewards (who were
watching!) decided the horse was too tired to jump the last, the jockey (who
was on the horses back!) decided it was not too tired! Jockey fined!
I still want to know where amateurs are supposed to get the money from
to pay these fines. Professionals who
earn good money don't get fined (not always!) they are suspended and can 'sign
- on' but if you are a MISTER or MISS ie amateur - you get fined. Any
comments - Fred@fredsampson.co.uk.
The bucket I shall be rewarding when I leave
the field in future will be the one marked - 'Fined Amateur Riders Fund' as we need them to turn up next week!
The West Country Champion Chase; the big one with
prize fund of first £700, second £200 and third of £100. The winning horse is eligible for the £10,000
three miles ½ furlong Volkswagen Toureg Men's P to P Championship HC Final at
Towcester on Monday 14th May.
Nine good Open Class pointers go to post. K Pritchard's CANNON
BRIDGE (W
Biddick) was the favourite at one stage but The Exmoor Partners
SOUTHWESTERN (N Harris) went off with that honour. CONCERT PIANIST (R Woollacott) and Ben
Robarts's JALONS STAR both took some
investment money but both Ruth and I remember the good run of wins from CANNON
BRIDGE and will invest hoping he is back to his best again. An exciting race is expected. Of they go!
Our choice is the first to lead and this makes it easier to follow his
progress. Darren Edwards on MAXIMIZE is
second followed by FATHER MANSFIELD (C Farrant) as they race along the bottom
straight on this first circuit with SOUTHWESTERN anchored in the tail end
position at this stage. Over the fourth
at a very good pace and our choice leads the field by five lengths. All jumping well, all over the first ditch
and still our choice leads the field through the start area and onto the second
circuit. JALONS STAR now up into second
and SOUTHWESTERN moving through the field confidently. CANNON
BRIDGE takes the field
down to the final open ditch with a small lead followed closely by
SOUTHWESTERN, JALONS STAR, CONCERT PIANIST and FINEWOOD. All over the ditch,
round the bend and entering the back straight CANON BRIDGE
is joined for the first time by SOUTHWESTERN with JALONS STAR in third and
CONCERT PIANIST travelling close up. It
is surely between these four now!
Unfortunately CANNON
BRIDGE stepped at his
next fence and was down. At the third last SOUTHWESTERN was down on his nose
but picked up and found himself now chasing JALONS STAR who had a three lengths
advantage. We remember oh so well that
this leader has a tendency to pull himself up when he
gets to the front but he still has to be caught. Five lengths to the good over the last but he
now begins to hang. Ben is working on
him and reluctantly JALONS STAR keeps going with SOUTHWESTERN not being able to
close very much and gets to the line to win by seven lengths with CONCERT
PIANIST fifteen lengths back in third.
MAXIMIZE back in fourth. A very exciting race and around this course
today in a time of six minutes twenty one seconds is good. (Last year FINEWOOD won in 6m 11secs). Both tin and bag suffered again so a better
effort is a must on both fronts.
The intermediate will see fourteen go to post. By the
look of the boards in the investment area no one is very positive about this
race but eventually the majority settled for Mandy Hand's DANTE'S BACK (D
Edwards) to go off favourite with The Exeter Racecourse's ON HIS TOES (W Biddick) and The Alder Plot Friends' WALTER DE WODELAND
(S Young) sharing the second favourite spot.
Off they go - no they don't, yes they do and it was Ruth's choice, ON
HIS TOES that led the field up the back straight for the first time. Incidentally I had not chosen any of the
favoured ones but took a small each way bet on the jointly owned COOKIES BANK
(R Woollacott) as his running into second place recently impressed me
somewhat. Some untidy jumping over the
first and it was shortly afterwards that Isobel Tompsett
came down on LADY MYFANWY and this brought down Nick Schofield and HOWDY
CLOUD. As they approached the judge for
the first time it was Reuben Chapman's FURZECHAT (Dan Burton) leading followed
by DANTE'S BACK, WALTER DE WODELAND and MR AUCHTERLONIE (W White). On to the open ditch and it was here that
FURZECHAT ran out giving Danny Burton no chance. By-passing a damaged fence along the bottom
it was now DANTE'S BACK taking the remaining field along. My interest was about fifth but coming
through slowly. On the rising ground it
was still DANTE'S BACK followed by MR AUCHTERLONIE, WALTER DE WODELAND, COOKIES
BANK and ON HIS TOES. Excitement on the
increase in the Sampson family now!!
Along the back for the final time it was ON HIS TOES that made a move up
and got closer to the leader as did COOKIES BANK but at the next DANTE'S BACK
ran out. That changes things - my
concern was now leading only to come down at the next. No justice here! Now it's Will Biddick out in front and Ruth
doing a little line dance with no music other than
shouts of Come on Will!' Will continued
his drive and bettered the second horse, MR AUCHTERLONE (E
Cookson) by eight lengths with STARS N' STRIPES (M Dennis) and
WALTER DE WODELAND following up. ON HIS
TOES kept up to his work and eventually finished fifteen lengths to the good of
MR AUCHTERLONE and WALTER DE WODELAND a further length back in third. STARS N' STRIPES was fourth and I don't
think there were any other finishers.
The bag rejoices to sounds of replenishment whilst the tin is suffering.
The Confined hunts race saw a clear favourite in M
Gallagher's THIRTYTWORED (G Weatherley) take this field on and rightly so as he
was a short head second here on the last meeting. I chose the second favourite MISTER CLUB
ROYAL as he also ran well at the last meeting here and Will Biddick is up, so I
will, as will Ruth, take the odds of 10/3 which are decidedly better than four
to six ON - but crossing the line first is a must! Nine went to post. A general sort out as they clear the first
four fences and on breasting the hill and taking on fence five the field was
led by SHOBROOKE MILL (C Farrant) closely followed by MISTER CLUB ROYAL, ZESTA FIESTA (D Edwards)
and CORAL BAY (R Woollacott). The
favourite at this stage is travelling well in the middle of the field; down to
the open ditch, no problems and round the bend where CORAL BAY
joins the leaders. All over the fences
down the back straight and as they climb the hill again it is still MISTER CLUB
ROYAL out in front and travelling well with ZESTA FIESTA and SHOBROOKE MILL now
almost upsides. With a circuit left to
go it is ZESTA FIESTA who leads followed by MISTER CLUB ROYAL and SHOBROOKE MILL. CORAL BAY
was soon to be the first casualty of the race and was pulled up, not going
well. The remainder are now beginning to
spread out and the pace is increasing.
Over the open ditch and Will Biddick increases the pace with MISTER CLUB
ROYAL but THIRTYTWORED now gets up and joins him and they round the bend and
enter the back straight for a final time. Guy Weatherley goes for home but Will
Biddick also gets to work and THIRTYTWORED does not get away easily until just
prior to the final fence when Guy looks to have a horse full of running only to
slip and fall when he surely had the race in his grasp. The rest is
history. First MISTER
CLUB ROYAL with SHOBROOKE MILL ten lengths back in second place and Ben Robarts
bringing home PERFECT LIAISON three lengths back in third. The tin and bag collect but it was
desperately unfortunate for THIRTYTWORED; twice here now he has nearly won but
that's racing I suppose.
Two divisions of Restricted
races to follow with eleven to post in the first and eight to post in the
second. There have been incidents in all
races so far so I wander what will cause the extra excitement in these two
events. In division one it was surely the turn of the favourite Mrs Welch's
LITTLE APPLE BAY (C Dalley) to pick up a win after
such consistent runs into second place.
TAMAR MOSS (E Noszkay) is also a good
horse and is taking some money on the boards.
Some think Mike Weir's REAL SHARP (R Darke) will be in the shake up as
it is about time Mike was in the winners' enclosure. Darren Edwards will be coaxing best turned out LIRIC LADY along as it
is sometime since a 1 has appeared in her form.
I chose Mrs Sanderson's KARANTAKA to bring in a little for me and Ruth
was hoping for the same. Off they
go! Martin Sweetland on WICKED WITCH TOO
who was having his first sight of a racecourse dash off to a ten lengths lead
and kept up leading until the second circuit when he ran out of puff and
disappeared out the tail end. Another
one who didn't know how to behave on a racecourse and was soon out of it was
FINALLY SORTED (D Burton). LITTLE APPLE BAY
did not like racing at all today and was eventually pulled up. With one circuit to go it was TAMAR MOSS
leading the way from HUMBLEEXPECTATIONS (T Dennis). Down to the final open ditch it was still the
same two disputing it with KARANTAKA being pushed along in third. Down the back straight and HUMBLEEXPECTATIONS
fell. TAMAR MOSS now took it up with
REAL SHARP also in with a chance. Two
fences from home and still TAMAR MOSS led the remaining field with REAL SHARP
closing in and LIRIC LADY moving into third place. At the last Richard Darke began to get
serious and mastered TAMAR MOSS and went away to win by eight lengths with
LIRIC LADY two lengths back in third. We
collected nothing this time but I feel sure there is more to come from our
choice.
Division two saw quite an interest in the investing arena
around KINGSMILL LAKE but I caught a cold on this one the
last time so I'll choose Lucy Gardner on WINTER SCENE to send me home with the
tin a little refreshed. The horse that
took a great deal of late money was Lee Glanville's LISHEEN STORM (T Dennis)
and probably went off favourite. I
haven't seen Lee's name down as owner trainer before so here's wishing her good
luck as she has done such a lot for Pointing in the South West. Tabitha
Cave has arrived by air to ride Mrs
Truman's MIRAMAR
so maybe that one will take the most money and go off with the honour of being favourite. I don't
mind who is favourite as long as WINTER SCENE crosses the line first and my
eleven to four will seem a very good price.
The Hawker's SWEET SHOOTER (R Hawker) was a close third last time out
and maybe this one will improve enough to come in second but will be behind
WINTER SCENE I am sure. Off they go with
ORINOCO'S FLIGHT taking a keen pull out front
as they clear the fences along the bottom.
Up the hill and passing the judge for the first time it was ORINOCO'S
FLIGHT still out in front followed by WINTER SCENE, then comes SWEET SHOOTER
and KINGSMILL LAKE.
It is a tightly packed group with the front three not changing as they
clear away from the open ditch. After
all travelling and jumping well along the bottom it was KINGSMILL LAKE
that took it up as they climbed the hill for the second time. Richard Woollacott on JEMANNETTE appears a
little detached out the back. Over the
fence which will be the last in a circuits time it is still KINGSMILL LAKE,
ORINOCO'S FLIGHT, WINTER SCENE and then MIRAMAR followed by SWEET SHOOTER. LISHEEN STORM travelling well but JEMANNETTE
is being pulled up. ORINOCO'S
FLIGHT was pulled up before the final ditch leaving just six to race it
out. Lucy got WINTER SCENE over the
final ditch first and rounded the far bend in that position. SWEET SHOOTER was chasing but Lucy had a
couple of lengths in hand. KINGSMILL LAKE and LISHEEN STORM were still in
with a chance. Forget MIRAMAR.
WINTER SCENE was giving her best now but SWEET SHOOTER will not give in
and is almost upsides. These two over
the last together but WINTER SCENE got away best but now LISHEEN STORM is
coming with a late challenge and travelling really well. KINGSMILL
LAKE is now out of it but
there was a good race to the line with Lucy on WINTER SCENE getting there by
one and half lengths from Tim Dennis LISHEEN STORM with Rob Hawker SWEET
SHOOTER a further one and half lengths back in third. That was really exciting and a great finish
by the three of them. The right one won
for the tin and I think when I check up I will be leaving with a little more
than when I opened it but the bag is bursting at the seams, as the owner found
a bookie offering her four to one on WINTER SCENE which she snapped up just
prior to the off.
Lucy (WINTER SCENE) picked up the trophy for winning
the faster of the two Restricted race divisions and
Lisa Buswell (MASTER ACCORD) did the same for the
faster of the two Open maiden divisions.
The Ogle Challenge Trophy for the Leading Novice Rider at Buckfastleigh over
the two meetings was presented to Miss Emily Noszkay. Congratulations to all three ladies.
The two pony races that followed were well supported
and it was great to see the younger ones really enjoying themselves. The Hayes family have two very competitive
youngsters in Henry and Charlotte and they rode their ponies MILLIE and
HEAVENLY ROSE really well, coming in first and second respectively, with Chloe
Grove doing an excellent job on best
turned out SUMMERTIME BLAZE in third.
In division two I invested in JACK SPARROW but lost a little as Bryony
Frost, who made an excellent start this time, was just beaten by David Prichard
on FLANDERS FIELDS into second place.
JASMINE who was ridden by Joshua Newman was a distant third but
nevertheless was travelling well at the end.
Thank you all for an excellent days entertainment and
to the man who was searching at the end of the day for the bookie who would pay
out on those that should have won - have
you found him yet!
Next week we are at home at Wadebridge for the Western
Hunt meeting at the Royal Cornwall Showground and then
on Sunday, weather permitting we will be at Bishops Court for the East
Devon rescheduled meeting - BE THERE!
Fred and Ruth
