OLD RA WITTON CASTLE
6th February 2005
by Ian Marshall
Overnight rain left the
ground as officially good, although by the end of the afternoon it
was fairly tacky and the three miles took some getting.
Nonetheless, there were many favourable comments and the fences
took some jumping. The undoubted highlight of the day was a
magnificent four-timer from jockey Ben Woodhouse.
13 of the 16 entries stood their
ground for the opening Old Raby Hunt Club Members Maiden and Carew
justified favouritism in good style under Lee Bates for owner John
Mackley. Despite making two or three mistakes, the nine-year-old
went about his business with the minimum of fuss and readily strode
clear when asked. He looks an able replacement for the
owner’s now retired stalwart Erzadjan. Lothian Rising (Luke
Morgan) finished with purpose to take second and is improving with
each race. The hard-pulling Winnie Wild and Tina Jackson were
third. Although it wasn’t the strongest of heats, this was
the mare’s best effort to date by a long chalk and maybe a
fruitless time hurdling has somehow helped. Fourth-placed Kings
Bloom (Trevor Glass) was given a quiet ride in rear and his jumping
took time to warm up. The gelding got a bit closer in the final
three quarters of a mile and will know more next time. Polar Gale
was holding second when crashing through the wing of the
penultimate fence. Kappillan and Queenies Girl both came down at
the third and their involvement when running loose later
unfortunately meant Bridal Point, who had made every yard to that
stage, was carried out at the 12th.
The late withdrawal of the
prospective favourite Just Fluster after an incident in the paddock
left five to go to post for the Intermediate. Mister Bromley was
given a very positive ride by Serena Brotherton to prevail by 12
lengths. The duo took up the running after a lap and seemed to have
things under control after that. The chestnut is exceptionally
consistent and remains on an upward curve. High Fields with Oliver
Greenall aboard was back in second and was rather low at several
fences. The usual headgear was oddly left off and he was never in a
challenging position. John Rich and Guy Brewer were third. They
disputed the running for much of the way and this quirky, but
talented, customer was far more cooperative today. Silogue was
fourth for Nigel Tutty and was the first off the bridle. All of
Nigel and Karen’s horses during the day gave the impression
that the outing would be of benefit.
There were eight runners for the
Ladies Open and Texas Ranger, who was a warm order in the market,
duly obliged under Jo Foster. A fast pace had most of his rivals in
trouble from early on. A top performer in 2004, Texas Ranger is
likely to be even stronger this year at the age of seven. The only
other horse to land a blow was Ardmayle, with Lucy Coney in the
saddle. They mixed it up front with the winner until after the
second last, so a small ladies event could well be on the cards in
the future. There was a distance to third placed San Francisco and
Freya Hartley. San Francisco needed the run. Dun Distinctly (Lucy
Horner) was a remote fourth. It was disappointing to note that the
race was delayed due to the necessary arrival of a helicopter and
runners were forced to circle at the start for more than 20
minutes. Surely they could have been kept in the paddock for
longer.
A dozen horses turned out for
the Mens Open, which went to Mr Mahdlo by a not extended ten
lengths. It was a cool ride from Ben Woodhouse for father Bob, as
he had the eleven-year-old in a prominent position at all times and
when Mr Mahdlo was encouraged to quicken, the response was
immediate. It will take a decent horse to beat Mr Mahdlo between
the flags, if attention is not immediately turned to hunter chases.
There was a highly promising seasonal reappearance from runner-up
Chaos Theory and David Thomas. Ben From Ketton in third, with Simon
Robinson on top, seemed to get outpaced and then stayed on again.
Cimarrone Cove took fourth for Oliver Greenall. A couple of glaring
jumping errors ruined his chance and reapplying blinkers appears to
be a likely move. Mademist Sam and Whitley Grange Boy set a fair
pace. The former looked to “blow up” and will come on
for the run, while the latter would have been an honourable second
if he had not fallen at the final fence. After a considerable
amount of time off, he can find a similar race if avoiding the
dreaded “bounce” factor.
There was a bumper field of 18
for the ultra competitive Restricted and Ben Woodhouse scored again
on the impressive Auntie Kathleen. The striking grey mare he trains
for P.J. Finn had traveled well for the whole of the contest and
answered every question asked of her. With this kind of
improvement, a confined is well within her capabilities. Nampara
Cove kept on in second for Trevor Glass. Having missed all last
year, this was a sound effort. Hellodock, with Clive Mulhall in the
saddle, attracted money in the ring, but was on the back foot in
middle to rear throughout and was in essence nearest at the finish.
Floritchel under Tom Oates was fourth and came on a notch for his
win in an Alnwick match in January. Search Party managed fifth and
will be much more interesting when regular rider Simon Walker is
back on board. Both Flat Stanley and Sir Alf gave encouragement for
the rest of the season.
Division One of the Maiden
featured 14 horses and a virtually unique open betting heat. Three
minutes before the off, I noticed that one bookmaker had four
co-favourites at 5-1. This and the slow time suggest it was a
pretty poor race. Ben Woodhouse completed his treble on Supreme
Vintage for trainer Chris Pimlott. It was a ding-dong battle with
Rising Talisker and Rachel Clark from the last, but Supreme Vintage
got up by three quarters of a length. He hadn’t previously
shown a great deal. Rising Talisker is game, but has her
limitations. Milliners Guide put in her finest display yet for
Chris Dawson twenty lengths back in third, however she has looked
ordinary in the past. Supreme Optimist took fourth and was keen
under Richard Clark. He’s better than this. Just four
finished. Dayenoo ran out in the home straight on the first circuit
and sloppy jumping marred several chances. Kismet had to be
withdrawn at the last minute, apparently as no suitable jockey
could be found.
The meeting ended with ten
runners in Division Two of the Maiden and the father and son
combination of Bob and Ben Woodhouse claimed the honours with Ellie
Bee. The partnership came to the last in company with Castleford
and appeared to be going the stronger when Castleford fell. Ellie
Bee only managed one run last year so the experience will have been
of assistance as well. Kelly Pride took second and Dracaena third,
with Ballyards fourth. Ballyards made a horrendous mistake when
handy at the 11th, which Tom Oates did well to survive. It knocked
the stuffing out of him, therefore he did well to plug on for
fourth and is one to look out for later in the season. Castleford
was fancied to get off the mark. He hit the third fence very hard
indeed and it was a worthy candidate for recovery of the season as
somehow William Kinsey clung on having been around the side of
Castleford’s neck with both legs out of the stirrups. It was
credit to horse and jockey to get back into contention and only the
fall at the last deprived them of at least the runner-up spot.
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