South East PtP
Supporters Club
Detling
Saturday 15th January 2011
by Simon
McInnes
The weather forecast told us it was going to
be windy, and with the course being on top an exposed hilltop in an
exposed part of Kent, fans of bluster were not disappointed. The
only flag or banner on show was the "weighed in" one on the number
board and there were a few moments when that looked like it might
fly off in a north-easterly direction. Does the meeting insurance
cover members of the public being struck by signal flags miles from
the course? Admittedly it did stay dry, and the basic temperature
was not actually that cold, but those positives were more than
offset by the inability to do basic things like turn the page of a
racecard, or drink the top inch of a cup of tea before it was swept
from the cup. The crowd was small, but a slightly disappointing
level of entries was offset by a high proportion of them turning
out to run, and the smallest field on the day was seven - which is
pretty good going for the south east region.
Going: Soft (strong headwind coming up the hill to the finish,
especially in the earlier races)
Race 1: Giles Hopper Memorial Open Maiden
1: Ringa Bay 2: Moscow Tiger 3: Gentle Jim
Winner owned: Mr M Kehoe, trained & ridden: Phil York
There are those who were present when Ringa Bay won a probably
stronger race at Cottenham only to be disqualified that deemed him
to be the victim of an injustice that day, and the presence of an
apparent fair and square winner in a maiden had obvious appeal in
the betting. However, Moscow Tiger is no mug, having been placed in
a couple of bumpers back in 2009, and although having the absence
to overcome, fitness did not seem to be a problem. That pair had
the race in hand from the third last, and whilst Ringa Bay had to
work hard to stay out in front, he never quite looked like he was
going to let Moscow Tiger worry him out of it. The runner-up should
be able to go one better fairly soon. Gentle Jim's owners had
another runner in the race, and he was the one who sported the
alternative colours. Early on he poodled round at the back and only
made an effort to improve when it was a bit too late to be catching
the leaders. Definitely can do better than this effort. Despite
pulling up before the last, the was some merit in the effort of Sum
Say So, who was a bit disruptive in the preliminaries, but seemed
happy enough being asked for a similarly belated effort as Gentle
Jim. He had missed 2010 and could come on for this exercise a fair
bit - although he showed nothing in two runs in Ireland. The only
newcomer was Normansmistress, who looked fit, and quite well, in
the paddock. She was a bit ponderous with her jumping, which meant
that she struggled to stay in touch and eventually pulled up. Our
Poppy Day has been placed in a pair of two and a half milers, and
was not ridden today as if there was much faith of her lasting this
trip in the testing conditions. Which proved to be right.
Race 2: Hobart Slater South-East
Point-To-Point Supporters Club Members Conditions
1: Dante's Storm 2: Control Man 3: Mount Sandel
Winner owned: IM Cobbold, trained: Alan Hill, ridden: Phil York
This had the makings of a cracking race, but Dante's Storm rendered
it a cakewalk, going to the front towards the end of the back
straight and when the rising ground and wind could have taken a
toll, he showed no ill effects from having missed last year. All in
all, a very impressive return. Control Man was the one horse that
tried to live with the winner, but he had been burned off by the
third last and was overtaken for second by Mount Sandel. That horse
was near the end of his tether, and by the last fence had dropped
back into third spot. Control Man had missed two seasons, so to end
up second, even in manner best described as 'determined but slow'
was a fair performance. Mount Sandel won a couple of three runner
novice chases despite his jumping (not because of it), and will at
least be better for the exercise. Further back, Supa Tramp, who has
only won as far as Restricted level, did end up well behind in
fourth, but was taking on a bit more than he is up to in this
company. Down the field was Bannister Lane, a horse for whom no mud
can be too deep and no race distance can be too far. He dislodged
his rider on the way to the start and did three-quarters of a lap
loose (chased much of the way by the clerk of the course on a quad
bike - was that really likely to help slow him down?). Cleared to
take part, he had a midfield amble round and should be spot on for
the next time, assuming it stays wet and he is better behaved.
Race 3: Classic Security (UK) Ltd
Restricted
1: In The System 2: Zaffarani's Star 3: Blue Dark
Winner owned: The Sammy Fuller Partnership, trained: David Phelan,
ridden: Tom Cannon
The betting was for a while very positive for In The System, who
had won in Ireland, once in fifteen tries, but also not seemed the
most sure footed of creatures to walk the earth, and occasionally
dump his rider on it. He made his attack a long way out, stalked by
Blue Dark, but proved to have by far the most stamina, going six
clear three from the finish, and only beginning to tie up well into
the run-in, when the race was in the bag. Whether it was ground or
trip, maybe both, Blue Dark failed to see out the race, and lost
second to Zaffarani's Star. That horse does not have the most
encouraging of jumping records, but apart from a hesitant stab at
the twelfth, which lost him the lead, he was not too bad in that
department, and certainly did not give up once headed. The other
one prominent in the betting market was Florence Mary, but she
never got going today and was no threat to the placed horses.
Race 4: Aga Ladies' Open
1: Rash Move 2: Balladeer 3: Roaringwater
Winner owned: K Hutsby, trained: Fred Hutsby, ridden: Hannah
Watson
This proved to be the race of the day, with the official distances
a neck and another neck, with an unusually committed Balladeer and
a revitalised (for now?) Roaringwater refusing to give Rash Move a
moment of peace and quiet all the way up the straight. Rash Move
was shaping up as a pretty decent type of weapon in 2010, so we
have a choice of saying it was a slightly below par return which he
got away with, or taking a more optimistic view of the placed
horses. Well, Balladeer has been in fair form in modest rules races
of late and Roaringwater has run to this level before, just not
consistently, so we can polish up the rose tinted spectacles.
Launde was tailed off in fourth, but three miles in soft ground is
probably beyond him. Four time winner last season Gold Heart was
very laboured in his jumping and consequently could not keep up
with main contenders. Forest Miller, who got placed often (but only
won once) in modest handicap chases, was a bit disappointing
overall and might not really have the will power for open
races,
Race 5: Pat Wilkins Men's Open
1: Noakarad De Verzee 2: Massimo 3: Soleil Fix
Winner owned & ridden: David Maxwell, trained: Kim Smyly
The men's race also produced a close finish, but with Noakarad De
Verzee ploughing on heartily, Massimo never quite convinced in the
last quarter of a mile that he was going to reel in the leader.
After missing last season, Noakarad De Verzee had be reported as
having a fairly genteel reintroduction, and it paid dividends here.
Massimo, on the other hand, had been AWOL since 2008, but looked
really well in himself, and fit enough to do himself justice. The
going probably caught him out, but it was quite a hard race after
the absence and he may need a little time to get over it. The pace
had been forced by Aughlea Bridge, an Irish import who only won two
out of nineteen points, but had been placed in a big field hunter
chase. He went off of the rails from the third last and lost the
minor place to Soleil Fix. For a horse whose jumping under rules
had been a fiasco, one that had prevented him becoming at least a
solid handicapper, errors were kept to minimum. A small amount of
improvement from that and he could be winning. The great Honourable
Spider returned looking like the race would do him good. The other
two runners made a little bit of chaos and bemusement for the day.
Orfeo Conti effectively refused to jump off, and only started when
the rest were going over the first fence. And Keepthedreamalive had
some sort of tack problem, which meant that with his rider lacking
stirrups and steering, he went around the fifth and was gradually
coaxed into a halt.
Race 6: Dodson & Horrell PPORA Club
Members, Novice Riders
1: Jack's Present 2: Sole Agent 3: Top Ram
Winner owned: Simon Tindall, trained, Nick Pearce, ridden: Bridget
Andrews
After their rout of the oppo at Cottenham, Stroom Bank and Freddie
Mitchell were a warm order for this, but the horse was no match for
the mud, and they never seemed in any danger of being involved in
the finish. That left yet another absentee for 2010 to pop up and
make an early impact on the 2011 honours board, as Jack's Present
helped maintain his decent strike rate, assisted by a rider who it
is slightly surprising to see still qualified for novice races.
Sole Agent can be a bit of an old sulker, but was clearly on a good
day here, and held Top Ram, not the most prolific of winners, at
bay for second. Captain Knock had unseated in his last two, but
jumped safely until managing to get rid of his jockey four out.
However, in sixteen chases, points and rules, Britain and Ireland,
he has know firmly established "unseated" as his favourite outcome,
managing it five times.