Report
from North Cornwall Club Point to Point meeting held at Wadebridge on Saturday
15th December 2007
Again this year we were blessed with super weather at
the Royal Cornwall Showground for the North Cornwall Club meeting. A draught from the East brought a few tears
to the eyes but at no time did this prevent supporters seeing excellent racing
on good ground. With all facilities
under cover this is the perfect venue for an early December meeting and it was
well supported. A great deal of time and
effort by the dedicated few and the provision of new fences has
made this course a pleasure to both see and race on.
The tin started the day completely empty after a
disastrous day's investing at Black Forest Lodge but the Winter Heating
Allowance from Ruth's account and the £10 winter bonus from George Brown are
both being put to use as I view the runners in the first race which is the NC
Club Members Race. There are only three
runners off to post and I don't expect Reuben Chapman to have invested in his
INDIAN RAIDER (W Biddick) to do anything more than sensibly complete the course
as a pipe opener for the season, up against two such good horses as Roma Cook's
TSAR'S TWIST (Lucy Gardner) who had a good race at Black Forest Lodge and B
Messer-Bennett's SEA SNIPE (Emily Noszkay).
For me it will either be a very cold winter or one with the logs being
piled onto the fire as the allowance is all going onto Lucy as I expect her
experience to overcome that of young Emily and bring home TSAR'S TWIST to win
by a couple of lengths. Off they go with
Lucy soon taking up a lead of a few lengths over the other two. Over the first open ditch Lucy had a five
length lead and unfortunately for those like me who were looking forward to a
challenge, it was now a procession. We
were expecting a good race on the second circuit but this did not happen. Lucy continued to maintain a lead of over
five lengths throughout and crossed the line eight lengths clear of SEA
SNIPE. Emily Noszkay had the thrill of
riding a horse that has won ten consecutive races and probably enjoyed that bit
of it and for a novice that is an experience, but for the punters that wagered
odds-on they were not very pleased; but me - well done Lucy and the tin will
really appreciate that win. Incidentally
the bag of zips was being opened as well.
Well done Ruth!
Eight to run in the Men's Open Race and this should be
very competitive. A winner here last year and also second to SEA SNIPE, R Woollacott's
CONCERT PIANIST is taking considerable investments and Mrs Andrew Wardall's MERCHANTS FRIEND with Ryan Bliss up is also fancied,
but the G B Friends syndicate's UNUSUAL SUSPECT (Will Biddick) will go off
favourite and Darren Edwards on the Harvey's YES MY LORD is backed in and will
go off second favourite. Off they go
with the field being led by Nicky Martin's DESIGNER LABEL (Neil Harris) but
five lengths would cover the field of nine as they jumped the open ditch for
the first time. As they rounded the top
end it was still DESIGNER LABEL followed by The Got The Hots For Racing Club syndicate horse ANGELLO (N Wilmington), YES MY LORD and The Berwick Rock
Partnership's PETER'S TWO FUN (J Barnes).
A good pace was being set as they raced down the hill and onto fence
eight round the bottom bend and up towards the finishing line for the first
time with the order not changing much and the field well bunched up. Towards the final open ditch it was
noticeable that Will Biddick was asking a little more of the favourite now and
he came up to join DESIGNER LABEL, ANGELLO and now CONCERT PIANIST with the
remainder close up behind. Taking the
field down to the fourth last it was still DESIGNER LABEL with BED BUG -
(whoops! There is no BED BUG on my card for this race!!! ), UNUSUAL SUSPECT is
still there as is MERCHANTS FRIEND. Now
I am worried as I have invested in Will Biddick winning this race but there
must be some mistake as BED BUG is being mentioned where it should be UNUSUAL
SUSPECT. On they go with three fences to
go and DESIGNER LABEL is still there with BED BUG pressing him on the outside
(NO! it is DESIGNER LABEL surely!!) Two
to go and others are closing but it is surely UNUSUAL SUSPECT (aka BED BUG
today!) that is going to get there. Towards the line DESIGNER LABEL having led
all the way is taken by fast finishing horses such as CONCERT PIANIST, ANGELLO and
an equally good finishing MERCHANTS FRIEND.
Walking (quickly I might add!) down to the unsaddling enclosure I was so
pleased to see Will take UNUSUAL SUSPECT into number one slot and BED BUG was
nowhere to be seen. More
for tin and bag so this is going to be a very warm Christmas. Whew! I was a little worried!
Now we have an equally competitive Ladies' Open Race
with another one from the Colin Heard stable going off favourite with Claire
Allen up on INNOCENT REBEL which is a little surprising as Polly Gundry is here
with Ross Oliver's LET'S FLY who had such terrific form last year and the other
ones with form are the Faulks's HAPPY SHOPPER (C Tizzard) and Miles Pengelly's DOOF (Alice Mills). I invested in LET'S FLY as this one never let
me down last season and here's hoping she will carry on supporting both tin and
bag this year. Off they go and it was
Polly who set a cracking pace for the first three fences and onto the first of
the open ditches when LET'S FLY, INNOCENT REBEL, HAPPY SHOPPER and BALLY BLUE
(R Green). A real good pace around the
top, down and over fence seven led by INNOCENT REBEL, up past the crowd to really
good applause and off down the hill and onto fence eight. All
safely over and round the bottom bend the field were led by INNOCENT REBEL and
DOOF then came URBAN REBEL followed by LET'S FLY three lengths back. On passing the judge for the final time BAK
TO BILL (Lucy Gardner) decided he would prefer his horse box and asked' Lucy
to get off and placed her on the deck and trotted of for a drink. Meanwhile back at the head of affairs and
reaching the open ditch for the final time it was INNOCENT REBEL, DOOF and
HAPPY SHOPPER who led the remainder. Past the crowd and down the hill and all at a good racing speed. It was here that URBAN REBEL began to make an
effort and started challenging INNOCENT REBEL for the lead. It was great racing from here on in and
exciting to watch as they rounded the bottom bend with two fences to clear and
an uphill run to the line. INNOCENT REBEL and HAPPY SHOPPER to fight it out with two real good
jockeys all the way to the line.
INNOCENT REBEL made it by four lengths in the end from HAPPY SHOPPER
with DOOF a further six lengths back in third and BALLY BLUE (R Green) in
fourth in the very quick time of six minutes one second. Nothing for the tin on this occasion but my
money is only on loan at the moment as I am sure I will get repaid by LET'S
FLY, maybe later in the season.
Eleven to post for the Restricted Race with great
things expected from Charlie Rush's BALLYBROWN (W White) as he made a promising
start to his career in Cornwall
by winning his maiden by five lengths here at Wadebridge but had to have a
little tender loving care last season, but is fit to run now. He is vying for favouritism with the Black
Forest Lodge winner KNIGHTSBRIDGE HILL (D Edwards) and J & K Heard's
MURPHYS MAN but there are others here with form like Lucy Gardner's MASSINI MAN
and another trained by Colin Heard RIVER HEIGHTS (S Alwood). The Tizzard's FULLY
LOADED ridden by Charlotte
is also not without a great chance. Off
they go! Well unfortunately BALLYBROWN
decided Will White was in the way and got rid of him at the fence coming up the
home straight for the first time. At one
time Will was seen running in between two racing horses with no horse
underneath him and he either had to do that or get underneath one. He came out reasonably unscathed but
BALLYBROWN chose to jump over the course marker and into a metal gate which he
really messed up. Then off to his
box. (I have checked up and he has come
to no harm and was turned out, galloped off and took a decent roll on Sunday
morning before probably going to church!)
Jim Cole set a good pace on his HOLLY WALK and led the field over the
open ditch and around the top bend closely followed by TOM CANNON (N
Wilmington), KNIGHTSBRIDGE HILL and VELVET SKY (R Mahon). As they came up to pass the judge for the
final time it was RIVER HEIGHTS leading with TOM CANNON on the inside with
HOLLY WALK, MASSINI MAN and then KNIGHTSBRIDGE HILL all in with a chance. Tim Dennis decided MURPHYS MAN had had enough
so he was pulled up. Around the top it
was RIVER HEIGHTS and TOM CANNON leading the field
followed by FORT OF GOLD who was now moved up into contention and being ridden
by the Reverend S Beveridge. This one refused two out at the BFClub meeting but he is from the professional yard of the
Frost's so they will no doubt have got him ready for this meeting. My investment carrier MASSINI MAN is there
with a chance and seems to closing up a little.
Down the hill and towards the fourth from home; KNIGHTSBRIDGE HILL,
HOLLY WALK, TOM CANNON and MASSINI MAN all in a line and all in with a chance
if good enough. Around the bottom and KNIGHTSBRIDGE
HILL took up a couple of lengths over HOLLY WALK and these two raced one
another over the last couple of fences but then out of the 'blue' or should I
say 'heavens' came the Flying Reverend and FORT OF GOLD travelling faster than
the others by far and passed them to win by half a length from the also fast
finishing Charlotte on FULLY LOADED with KNIGHTSBRIDGE HILL just a length back
in third. HOLLY WALK was fourth. Nothing for bag or tin that time but only a
little was invested and I will get it back by deducting the amount from the
plate in church on Sunday as no doubt the Reverend will put a little in for
me. A lady next to me jumped with joy as
FORT OF GOLD crossed the line as she commented that she had invested two pounds
on the frisky one in the paddock and she would be paid out at fifty to
one. Well done!
Again the favourite is being sent out from Colin
Heard's yard in the form of Garry Wilson's TALIKOS (W
Biddick) for this Intermediate Race and he will go off at an
odds-on price. I am hoping that J
Russell's CASTLE CAZZA (R Green) will be good enough to top up the tin as this
one had some real good form last season winning both his maiden and restricted
and hopefully will now conquer this Intermediate. Ruth is following Will so her investment will
be definitely with the favourite but others are also in with a good
chance. The jointly owned FREMANTLE
DOCTOR (J Tudor), the Nyland Partnership's BARNEY
BLUE (R Bliss) and another from the Frost's yard and owned by J Frost is FEELING BETTER (B Robarts) are all capable
of winning this but according to the
investment arena they have to beat TALIKOS and Will Biddick. The favourite got off to a good start and led
the field over the first two and up past the judge and onto the open ditch where
he showed it plenty of daylight and was followed by FREMANTLE DOCTOR, BARNEY
BLUE, GALLAMORA (L Rowe) and FEELING BETTER.
CASTLE CAZZA was held in the rear.
The favourite travelled well and soon had a six length lead. Up passing the judge for the final time and
onto the open ditch, all over safely and TALIKOS looked extremely comfortable
taking the field along. CASTLE CAZZA
closed up a little and FEELING BETTER dropped to the rear as the field went
down the hill for the final time. Three
out it was still TALIKOS followed now by CASTLE CAZZA, FREEMANTLE DOCTOR and
BARNEY BLUE. GALLAMORA was now taking
closer order whilst FEELING BETTER was pulled up. The last two fences were jumped well by
TALIKOS and came home to win by ten lengths with Lee Rowe on GALLAMORA
finishing well to take second place and CASTLE CAZZA two lengths back in
third. FREEMANTLE DOCTOR was
fourth. This was impressive and the
winner will cause some excitement this season in open classes. The one I take out of this race is Lee Rowe
and Miss J Cole's GALLAMORA as this mare finished well and has some good
breeding behind her.
Two maidens followed with 12 in division one and 14 in
division two. In division one the clear
favourite was one from Camilla Scott's yard up on Exmoor,
The Bradley Partners YUFO with the stable jockey Neil Harris in the plate. It was really good to see so many supporters
from Exmoor who had made the effort to travel down to Cornwall to support this meeting. Thank you all. They were rewarded with this favourite
crossing the line two lengths to the good of KINSFORD COWBOY (J Barnes) closely
followed by JOSH BE YOURSELF (R Woollacott).
The favourite in division two was also from the Scott's yard but I hope
they didn't plonk their winnings from division one all on the jointly owned SO
LONG (N Harris) as they would have been out of luck as Pauline Harkin's VELVET
BLU who qualified with the Pytchley Hunt and ridden by Darren Edwards came home
to win by a length from another from the Frost's stable, TANDORI, ridden by Jenny
Carr with Ross Oliver's improving WEE FLY (P Gundry) back in third. The tin
collected a little in the last two races and looked very healthy for the
journey home. The bag did even better and had a bulge in one of the zip pockets
but don't worry, there are about seven other zipped pockets ready for use.
That was a really good Point to Point and I know you
will say that I have to say that, but really what more could one want, good
weather, a good racing course, sensible entrance fee (£10 car and driver, £5.00
per passenger/pedestrians) and competitive racing with no injuries. Super!
The next meeting is at Ideford Arch for the South
Devon Hunts Club on Sunday 30th December 07, first race is 1130 am,
like us - BE THERE!
Fred and Ruth
