Corbiewood - 18th May
In an almost carbon copy performance of last season's victory in the Standardbred Show Trophy Final (August 3rd 2017), Live In Star proved that he's been eating his carrots once again when winning the opening meeting's final in pitch darkness.
An accident in the third race which saw driver John Allan take a bruising fall on the first bend delayed racing by almost an hour, on an evening when an 8 race card already had officials watching the clock closely to evade the fading light. Although, not closely enough that the qualifiers before racing could get off on time...
Last season's BHRC 2YO Futurity winner DKs Happy Forever (Richard Thomson) took out the first heat from GDs Hazzard (Andrew Cairns). In the second heat, Bono (William Greenhorn) held off the advances of Royal Mint Howard (James Haythornthwaite) as the pair secure the next two spots in the final.
In the first running of heat three, Millie May West (John Allan) was hampered by the faltering Whosurbaby (Scott Murray) on the first bend at breakneck speed, with the former tipping the driver out of the cart. Racing was halted as the loose Millie May West circumnavigated the track whilst first aiders attended to the fallen driver who appeared to have lost consciousness. Thankfully, John Allan (who was taken to hospital by ambulance) was reported to be back on his feet by the weekend and raring to go for the following week's racing!
In the re-run, Whosurbaby had a cleaner run, leading out and holding his front position until Live In Star (Grant Cullen) cruised past in the stretch to take victory. The fourth and final heat saw stablemates Indie Hanover and Porcelain Seelster, and brothers Richard & James Haythornthwaite fill the last remaining places in the final.
The nine horses entered for the maiden and novice division all declared, and as the track maximum at Corbiewood is 8 horses the decision was made to split them into 2 races: one of 5 and one of 4. Unfortunately, Ladyford Topaz sustained an injury whilst disembarking the lorry, and withdrew. However, due to an objection from (at least) one set of connections, the two races were not combined. Personally, in this instance I feel that the promoter has final say on issues such as this, and the decision should have been made to combine the two races into one, especially (in hindsight) in light of the unanticipated delay to racing.
Nevertheless, the decision was what the decision was, and the Castalongshadow Syndicate-owned Mahogany Martini (Gregor Menzies) won the first division, with Talavaryterminator (Richard Haythornthwaite) taking the second.
The seventh race on the card was the second leg of the national BHRC & Standardbred Horse Sales Co Star Maker Series, with 5 horses facing the starter. The unbeaten Soul Searcher (Willie Drysdale) was a popular winner as the horse is trained at Corbiewood by one of the sport's great characters, Charles 'Chico' Inglis Jnr, who blushed uncontrollably at all the cheers as he led his charge into the winner's circle.
Under the cover of darkness, 8 horses lined up for the handicap final. James & Richard Haythornthwaite were allegedly through their mark (looks as though the judge had either been eating his carrots as well or was wearing night vision goggles to spot that) and were immediately disqualified. Live In Star spread-eagled the field early doors and was never being caught, with the officials clocking him in 2.05.83 and winning by a distance from GDs Hazzard. An interesting point to note is that no other clock on the track recorded him in that time, even if those operating them had to get home to artificial light to check them.
The trainer, Keir Cullen, has advised that the horse will head to Appleby this weekend, donning a pair of large sunglasses in order to keep out the light!!
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| Live In Star & Grant Cullen winning the heat (in daylight) (Bill Cardno photo) |
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| Star Maker Heat winner Soul Searcher warming up with Richard Thomson (Bill Cardno photo) |
Finally, on opening night, Corbiewood welcomed its first international visitors of the season: two lovely ladies from Finland who are heavily involved in harness racing there. This was their first time watching pacers racing and they were full of questions - I hope I was able to answer some of them!! Finland has now joined the list of places I need to visit for the racing - both summer and winter!
Presteigne - 20th May
Smarty and I headed south to Wales on Saturday to deliver a mare and foal to the stallion, before heading further south into mid Wales to visit my parents (and attend a birthday party/barn dance/possible illegal rave on a mountain). The following day we ventured to Presteigne on a beautiful sunny Sunday for the first Wales & West meeting of the season.
Racing kicked off with the first of the BHRC Kids Club Pony Races, commentated by the star of the future, Stephen Lees Jr. I must admit, I was more than a little apprehensive about these races as there were a few niggling concerns regarding eligibility and criteria, however when I saw the five children lining up on their ponies, my heart about melted. Joseph Ripley Jr and Flash led from start to finish to record a resounding victory, from Charley Elvin and Elvis A-Ha in second, Jake Podmore and Star in third, Terry Allen Jr and Sampson in fourth and Indianna Allen and Essex Girl bringing home the quintet.
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| (Sarah Thomas photo) |
- Seal Of Approval & Angie Dyer, Qualifier - this horse was a runner up in the 2YO Colts & Geldings race at Aberystwyth last year behind Matticulous and looked an impressive sort at Presteigne last weekend. He is sure to win races this year on the Wales & West circuit.
- The Mockingjay & Marc Jones, Qualifier - this 2YO filly is built like an absolute tank and impressed in her qualifier. She will be one to watch in the stakes races, as Marc & Jenny Jones have had plenty of success in these types of events in the past, so this is not unchartered territory for the Sennybridge-based team.
- Easy Company & Rocker Laidler - Darren Owen's horse to follow for the season, despite his winning margins not being anything to write home about, impressed with the manner of his victories in both heat and final.
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| Easy Company & Rocker Laidler (Sarah Thomas) |
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| Valseur Du Cygne & Rocker Laidler (Sarah Thomas photo) |
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| The Ripley family & friends with Joseph Ripley & Espoir Lila (Sarah Thomas photo) |
1. The track.
I have been to Presteigne on a number of occasions, both when I was living and working in Wales and also since moving to Scotland. It isn't the smoothest of grass tracks, however, I do feel that with a bit of tweaking it could be far safer and a better spectacle for the racegoers. With the crowd being situated between the finish line and the first bend, much of the track is too far away for decent viewing. Coincidentally, that part of the track (the last 2 bends) seems to be where a lot of horses have difficulty navigating the corners. It appears that the track is greater than a half mile, yet the races are still run over two laps for every grade. A lot of horses finished their races very tired, despite the going being good, and as the track is solely raced upon in the early part of the season, this isn't ideal and could be the reason why a penalty free meeting a week later was lost due to lack of entries.
My suggestion would be to create a smaller track similar to Wolsingham/Hellifield/Corbiewood i.e. just under half a mile or 3/8 of a mile, and race a greater number of circuits. This would enable the roughest part of the track (on the final bend) to be removed; the crowd to have a better view of the racing; and the horses to not face such a stiff challenge. In Wales, harness racing participants are blessed with some fantastic grass tracks (certainly compared to Scotland and England), most of which are a bang half mile. In making Presteigne less than a half mile circuit, this would add an element of variety and in my opinion, the safety concerns would be somewhat alleviated. Furthermore, at some point the committee responsible for staging the racing has made the decision to reduce the maximum number of runners in a race from 10 to 8, and I can only assume this was on safety grounds. In light of this, I feel that reducing the size of the track would also assist on this front.
2. A horse running 3 times in one day.
A horse raced in a qualifier, before running in two further betting races later in the day.
I have previously raised concerns over something identical which occurred in August of last year at another track on the same racing circuit. The BHRC rulebook states that a horse cannot race more than twice in one day, for welfare reasons. I was advised on the previous occasion that a qualifer does not constitute a race, for the purposes of that particular rule. I have an issue with this, as regardless of whether betting is allowed on the race or not, the horse is still 'racing' over a mile. On this particular occasion, it was a very hot day and although I'm sure most horses are more than capable of racing under these conditions, it does beg the question what the purpose of the rule is if it is going to be interpreted in such a manner that it becomes a pointless rule (as I cannot think of any other circumstances in which a horse would enter to race 3 times on the same day).
3. Pylon violations
You'll hear quite a lot about these this summer I'm sure (wait for the next blog post). In North America, for example, they take a tough stance on pylon violations. Here...not so much. Upon reviewing the DVD from the meeting, a horse raced inside a minimum of 10 pegs. Whilst I appreciate that the stewards cannot see all things at all times, this occurred on the home straight leading directly up to the finish line in front of them. From trackside, where I was situated, it wasn't noticeable. From the inside of the track...well, it only took me one viewing at real time speed to count the pegs.
Nevertheless, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day out despite the sunburn and looooong drive home, which saw us get back to our house at 1am on Monday morning. I wouldn't want to do that too often!!
Next up will be Corbiewood's second meeting of the season and the first of the four major festivals of racing, Appleby.
Remember folks, #ComeHarnessRacing
Over and out,
#1 Groom
Sorry Sarah if you mean us in Presteigne we needed Rachel to sit her test. We used the qualifier as a warm up - we didn't work him out before hand. We take Wally's welfare very seriously and he was kept in the shade between races, not tired outside xx
ReplyDeleteHI Sarah
ReplyDeleteTB is not ‘pushing’ the young horses. We too would love to have many more older horses, but in the last two years only 3-4 British buyers have come into our aged horse sale.at the cheap price of £2800 (e.g. Valseur, Ugolin). The Maltese horses are all privately bought in France at 5 -10 times this price so it is not a valid comparison - and they don’t have the distraction of buying pacers in North America.
We have moved into young horses because at that price many buyers here have said ‘yes we are willing to take the chance of the big money they offer AND everyone who participates in the draw on an equal basis irrespective of their wealth’. So I’m afraid they ARE WANTED compared with the aged ones. And they ARE PROVEN, because in France when we select them they show they can trot well, they are just a bit too slow to qualify to race in the strict French conditions for a 3yo : 2.8 mile rate over 2000 meters walk in start. I leave to you, as a horsewoman, why some don’t reproduced that here.
BTW Aged private imports are allowed (in contrast to Ireland) and Amazing is a good example here today.
On the structure of the TB season we have found a lot of demand for big pot finals, along the lines of the 3yos, So we have gone along with Darren’s suggestion of an Inter-Dominion like structure, with three sets of qualifying heats for the final. Necessarily spread out over a longer period here because it wouldn’t be possible crammed into two weeks. Note that they are racing for comparatively very good prize money throughout the season despite this.