- This topic has 377 replies, 43 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
My favourite code of racing resumes at Black Forest Lodge and Cottenham this coming Sunday. The entry for the latter features an early candidate for the highest profile horse to convert to hunt racing this season – guess who…
http://images.racingpost.com/2010/Apr/15956.jpg
If he’s going to see out the full Pointing trip anywhere, it’s surely around the speediest Point-to-Point course of them all. I’ll be there to see how he gets on.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Stamina certainly, Mark. As regards jockeys, I understand that Sam Painting is aching to ride Khyber Kim, as he would most of the other Marcus Foley-housed Pointers, but the less frequently seen Camilla Henderson is likely to get the leg up at Cottenham.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
You going to be there to see it, Mark? I expect I’ll be huddled somewhere in the back of Cottenham’s antique grandstand, enjoying Sir Mark Prescott’s customarily energetic efforts as a starter and hoping that the low sun doesn’t blight the Maidens…
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Hiya,
For them as may have missed it, former Shloer / Kingmaker / Peterborough Chase winner
Gauvain
made a winning Pointing debut last Sunday, hacking up by 8l in a conditions event at Cottenham on day one of the season.
Records will show that he was sent off the 6-4 favourite, but 5-2 was widely available initially. Looked a steal at either price judged on the competition, but especially the latter. He’s now based with Victoria Collins (and her partner, leading Pointing writer Carl Evans) in Shropshire.
"Anything of the same sort of calibre entered up at Barbury Castle’s PPORC fixture this Sunday?", I hear you all cry in unison. One or two, yes –
Ghizao
(now trained by Jack Barber, grandson of Richard),
Domtaline
(Angela Rucker) and
Quinz
(Alan Hill, but still owned by Andrew Cohen), most notably.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Was just about to ask gc
Hopefully my old friend Quinz can land a few prizes this winter.
No outing for
Quinz
in the end, but that might just be a temporary delay to his British Pointing career as he’s got entries in both the Club and Men’s Open races at the Hursley Hambledon fixture up on Larkhill this coming Saturday.
Larkhill in mid-December – you read that right. It’s as if someone somewhere looked up from their desk, and said; "You know what? I just don’t believe that Pointing fans are getting cold enough". Pity the poor buggers just in riding silks…
Ghizao
is entered up at Larkhill as well, and I wonder if the temptation will be to go with him again quickly following an unseat before halfway at Barbury.
Our Island
,
Current Event
,
Rumbavu
and
Aerial
(yes, that one; now part of a string of – count them – 41 Pointers trained by Jack Barber in 2014-15) are other entries of note at Larkhill.
Fewer star names entered up at Wadebridge’s Cornwall Hunt Club fixture on Sunday, but
Champagne Rosie
versus
Kirkleigh
versus
Whenharrymetsally
would be a good clash in the Mens Open were it to come to pass.
Byerley Bear
, for so long the leader in the Leading Horse competition last season before Tempelpirate overtook his haul of wins late on, looks to have only
Rebel Du Maquis
to beat to land the Ladies Open for a third straight year.
Ockey De Neulliac
(Ladies Open) and
Cottage Oak
(Mens Open), winners of the last two runnings of the Walrus at Haydock, are the star Pointers/hunter chasers in the entry at Alnwick, where the Ratcheugh Racing Club fixture kicks off the Northern Area season for 2014-15.
The latter did have a tough enough race at Barbury last weekend, however, and even if already back to 100% effectiveness seven days hence might be given plenty to do by some little horse you might have heard of called
Junior
. Still in the care of the Middleham Park Racing Club, Nicky Tinkler now trains this grand old dual-purpose performer.
Oh, just finally –
Domtaline
pulled up with a circuit to go in the Ladies at Barbury, having been sent off 5-2 behind easy winner (and my doomed selection for the Foxhunter back in March!)
Berties Dream
.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Might yet happen, VTC. There’s only one fixture at Overton this season after the Lanarkshire & Renfrewshire and Eglinton decided not to race, and that remaining fixture – the Dumfriesshire & Stewartry – will take place on Sunday, February 8th. A win in an Open there might just confirm Foxhunter qualification for Junior, assuming he’s already picked up another good enough result elsewhere by then.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
As regards last weekend’s action,
Quinz
and
Aerial
both hosed up in their respective heats at Larkhill, though the former’s victory came in a club conditions event and does not count towards any Foxhunter qualification.
Ghizao
ran in the same race, but was always proving too much for his novice amateur rider to control and ran out with her just after halfway.
Our Island
unseated at the second, one of five casualties over the first two fences in a race that some suggested was tainted by the low sun (wrongly, given the sun wasn’t head-on).
Current Event
won the Ladies, but only after sit of the season three from home by Bryony Frost, sister of Hadden.
Ockey De Neulliac
lagged up in the Ladies at Alnwick, but
Cottage Oak
had to settle for runner’s-up position for the second weekend running after bumping into former Henry Daly mid-ranking handicapper
The Falklander
, now trained by Tockie McKie.
Champagne Rosie
versus
Kirkleigh
versus
Whenharrymetsally
did indeed take place in the Mens at Wadebridge, but all were beaten by the omnipresent
Double Bank
, a winner under Mervyn Woodward in each of the latest five hunt seasons now.
Byerley Bear
did spank
Rebel Du Maquis
to retain the Ladies under Leanda Tickle, though.
No Pointing activity this weekend – battle is rejoined at Cottenham on Monday 28th and Chaddesley Corbett on Tuesday 29th December. After that, the drip of meetings upgrades to a trickle.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Quinz
,
Tartan Snow
(now with Annabel Brook, ex-Stuart Coltherd) and
Khyber Kim
look to be the biggest names among the – count them – 200 entries for the Harkaway Club meeting at Chaddesley Corbett, the first fixture of the West Midlands Area season, on Monday, December 29th. It’s the usual 10.30am start in anticipation of the usual multiple division of races – come early!
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Are there ant point to points in the Derby/Nottingham area? Mike and I are complete billynomates this Christmas and are planning to go racing as much as possible
Hiya Moe,
Derbyshire is now sadly Point-less, following the closure of Flagg, whilst Nottinghamshire can boast only Thorpe Lodge (nr Newark; first meeting of term in mid-February) since Welbeck stopped holding meetings after the 2011-12 campaign.
Chaddesley Corbett (near Kidderminster) on the 29th is going to be your nearest action for some time. Apart from that the dates over the next few weeks are:
Sunday, 28th December
COTTENHAM (East Anglia)Sunday, 4th January
LARKHILL (Wiltshire)Sunday, 11th January
AMPTON (nr Bury St Edmunds)
WADEBRIDGE (Cornwall)
SHERIFF HUTTON (nr YorkSaturday, 17th January
LARKHILLSunday, 18th January
BLACK FOREST LODGE (nr Exeter)
ALNWICK (Northumberland)Sunday, 25th January
COCKLEBARROW (Gloucestershire)
FRIARS HAUGH (nr Kelso)
CHIPLEY PARK (nr Tiverton)
HIGHAM (Suffolk)Sunday, 1st February
HORSEHEATH (nr Haverhill)
BLACK FOREST LODGE
MORDON (nr Sedgefield)
MILBORNE ST ANDREW (Dorset)Saturday, 7th February
COTTENHAMSunday, 8th February
OVERTON (Lanarkshire)
WHITFIELD (nr Brackley)
BROCKLESBY PARK (North Lincolnshire)
GODSTONE (Surrey: j6, M25)
LARKHILLSaturday, 14th February
WADEBRIDGESunday, 15th February
THORPE LODGE (nr Newark)
ALNWICK
DUNCOMBE PARK (Helmsley)
BUCKFASTLEIGH (Devon)
BARBURY RACECOURSE (Wiltshire)Hope this helps!
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Thanks gc; Newark may be do able at some point and I’m desperate to re visit Cornwall this year, although Wadebridge will probably be finished by the time I go. Other than that Alnwick is a possibility. We felt a bit fishoutofwater’ish the only time we went there but I think we’re more knowledgeable about pointing these days [thanks to your good self]and it would be nice to take the dog
. We used to have a Point to Point course at Aston on Trent just up the road but that’s been a long time gone.
Other than that Alnwick is a possibility.
Alnwick on Sunday is still on as things stand, and with the course neighbouring the coast it always stands a better chance of beating the frost than its immediate racecourse neighbours such as Newcastle, Tranwell, Hexham and Corbridge. Forecast for the weekend is fetidly cold up there, mind, so best to advise caution.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.