Old Surrey, Burstow
& West Kent
Penshurst
Saturday 24th April 2010
by Simon
McInnes
Was this the first day that it became too hot
for racing? Not quite, but it was a major contrast to the weather
that most of the season has staggered through - although I do
recall making a facetious comment about a rare sighting of the sun
at Cottenham back in December. Suitably chastened by the events
that those few word provoked, let no more be said about it - the
huge crowd, which left the ample car park at the course nigh on
full, spoke for itself.
Going: Not stated. The course had been
watered which left the horses making a print on the surface, but it
also gave the impression that it was merely a soft cushion on a
very firm base. Does that average to good?
Race 1: Lord &
Lady Harris Countryside Alliance Club Members
1: Mr Tee Pee 2: Garundi 3: Captain's Legacy
Winner owned & ridden: Matt Braxton, trained: Rose
Grissell
Beating a solitary opponent, who eventually ran
out, in the Catsfield members race did not necessarily indicate
that Mr Tee Pee had completely returned to form, but routing five
opponents that showed, mostly, a more total comprehension of the
racing concept did. Admittedly that quintet did not enter the fray
in the peak of their form, and all but Garundi was brushed aside
before the third last, but some superior jumping was noteworthy
from Mr Tee Pee and perhaps he will repeat the performance in
another rise in class. After pulling up in his last three, Garundi
raised his game a great deal, after a lack of fluency at the early
obstacles left him dallying at the rear for the first lap.
Race 2: Hospitable
Hunt Hostelries South East Hunts Club Members, Novice and Veteran
Riders
1: Parkinson 2: Long Courrier 3: Durante
Winner owned & trained: JM Turner, ridden: Ed Turner
A disappointing turnout of three for this, and the market made
Durante favourite, based on three wins already this season.
However, Parkinson, who won at this meeting in 2009, would have
been giving him lumps of weight in a handicap chase, and had
arguably been getting placed in tougher contests. Long Courrier
managed to get himself detached from the other pair before the
first fence, and watched Parkinson and Durante (also a long lost
chat show classic) go round head to head in the lead. There was
never more than half a length between them, until Parkinson kicked
on before the third last. After that, it was all over, and Durante
was sufficiently eased when beaten to lose second on the run-in, to
the angst of those who had gone for a forecast option.
Race 3: Connolly's Red
Mills Intermediate
1: Lillie Lou 2: Karingabay Queen 3: One To Note
Winner owned & trained: R Fielder, ridden: Phil York
A rather sub-standard intermediate as most of the runners would
have been qualified for a restricted had there been one. This
played into the hands of Lillie Lou, who has been prolific compared
to most of her rivals, and has only slowly been easing back to form
after missing 2009. She was going well in front after the fourth
last, and rather than accelerate away, just gradually increased the
lead as her challengers faded. Karingabay Queen plugged away gamely
to earn second after making much of the running, and as a mere five
year old probably still has improvement in her. In the opening
shows One To Note was odds-on, but he drifted to odds against by
the off, and after hitting the fifth hard, again looked a hard
ride. Ilikehimmac, who had a tough race last week at Catsfield, was
ridden more patiently this time, and was still in contention when
falling at the fourteenth. If the quick reappearance was no
problem, he could well have given Lillie Lou some hassle.
Race 4: Knight Frank
Elizabeth Champion Memorial Ladies' Open
1: Badger 2: King Du Berlais 3: Fantastic Champion
Winner owned, trained & ridden: Caroline Taylor
Last
year's 1-2 of Carryonharry and Fantastic Champion reopposed in
this, with a much bigger than normal field of seven. However,
Carryonharry, possibly recalling this as the scene of his only
defeat of 2010, threw a wobbly at the first fence and got rid of
his rider. This unexpected turn of events left the crowd a little
bemused, as they were clearly expecting the usual outcome.
Realistically, this left two serious contenders, Badger and King Du
Berlais, as Fantastic Champion is not the heartiest competitor,
Reymysterio is the similar but worse and The Model Rebel has shown
no form since coming to the UK. The potential spanner in the works
was Soldershire, who gave no sign of the mean streak shown at
Catsfield, but was weakening when he fell at the third last. In the
end Badger was a comfortable winner, bearing the burden of
expectation to seal the race in the middle of the back straight,
and having enough in hand to ease off considerably after the
last.
Race 5: Polebrook
Brian Perring Memorial Men's Open
1: Cape Stormer 2: Master T 3: Reflex Blue
Winner owned: The Gorman Family, trained: Carolyn Gorman, ridden:
Marcus Gorman
With five runners, this was another better
than expected field for the course, although the standard was not
especially high - Sharlom and Master T were placed in the vets
& novice riders race at this meeting last season. Cape Stormer
is a bit too old at fifteen to recreate his year of being the most
prolific winner in the country, but is still good enough when the
best that the oppo can muster is a rogue like Master T, and he was
not hard pressed to pick up the trophy on this occasion. Reflex
Blue looked as if he was on one of his rare going days, but in the
latter stages his jumping became very scrappy and it knocked the
stuffing out of him completely. Sharlom did not fancy this at all
and pulled up at halfway. The other runner, Art Trend, took a heavy
fall at the thirteenth.
Race 6: Grants Cherry
Brandy Open Maiden
1: Royal Russet 2: Humbel Tricks 3: Top Society Girl
Winner owned & trained: RH York, ridden: Philip York
In a real rarity, the maiden had fewer runners than either of the
opens, and the four that raced should have put the fear of God into
punters, other than those with a perverse love of a token bet in
the worst races that can be found – being inclined towards
the latter, this has been arguably my favourite race of the season
so far. And no, I had no money on Royal Russet. Flora Ana came into
this with form of P5PP. Humbel Tricks had PP from a couple of Irish
runs in 2007. Royal Russet had P. Top Society Girl had finished a
couple of times in the distant past, missed last year and gone
UUPPP in this one. Obvious expectation of improvement led Royal
Russet to head the market, and he obliged despite some pretty
shoddy jumping in the first half of a race run at a crawl (the
final time was over seven minutes). For a long while Top Society
Girl was a visible danger, but her stamina lasted only until the
fourth last, and she dropped out fairly abruptly, losing second to
Humbel Tricks. Flora Ana pulled up. The form is probably worthless,
but Humbel Tricks, who is still only seven, has some scope to
improve for the run, whereas Royal Russet will find even
restricteds a much tougher proposition.