EAST SUSSEX & ROMNEY MARSH
CATSFIELD Sunday 10th
April 2005
by Simon McInnes
Decent going ensured very
respectable size fields for four of the races, although walking
parts of the course, plus the effects of the pony racing, showed
that it was in fact very patchy. Officially good to soft, some
parts, especially around the area where the field pass through gaps
in the hedge, were much softer, and the packed ground after the
last seemed a touch more solid.
Fynmores
Hunt Race
1: Balau 2: Glory Trail 3: Follow The Trend
winner owned by C Cheeseman, trained by Mrs A Hickman, ridden by
Peter Bull Of the ten original entries, nine went to
post for this, including four from the Di Grissell yard. Her yard
supplied the sole defector, presumably because they had run out of
people ride, saddle up, lead up etc. Three of the pilots were
having their first ride, and one, Zoe Anthony took a heavy fall at
the second, causing that fence to be omitted on the subsequent two
visits whilst she was attended to. The favourite, Balau, was
hampered in the incident, and made one or two hairy jumps before
asserting his superiority over the last four fences. Glory Trail
was a bit short of pace early on but plugged away and forced the
winner to exert himself a bit towards the end. Despite a series of
non-completions, Follow The Trend was given a positive ride but is
clearly a shadow of his former self. Newcomer Charlotte Marshall
completed well adrift on Dixon Varner, and his fellow fifteen year
old Jojo consented to let Gareth Barker get round this year. The
rider is, as far as I know, our only race-riding MP, which is
laudable, but not helping reduce the public perception of
politicians as a bunch of feckless dimwits.
Follow The Trend leads Cleverest over the
fourth, but the cleverest are waiting patiently behind- Balau in
purple & orange and Glory Trail in pink & mauve in the
distance on the left
Charles
Wells Restricted
1: Jac An Ree 2: Honour Spider
winner owned by C Newport, T Edmonds & J Draper, trained by Mrs
D Grissell, ridden by Philip Hall Only four lined up,
but they were a very strong quartet for a restricted at Catsfield.
Punters were required to be patient as the prices opened with
over-rounds in the region of 170%(!) but settled down near the off
to a more realistic 112%, which meant that all four drifted in the
betting. Heaven knows what television's more hysterical betting
analysts would have made of it. Favourite Magniolia jumped left,
hung left on the longer runs between fences and eventually ducked
out to his left when beaten three from home. Whether he is simply
mentally in need of growing up or had a physical problem remains to
be seen, but he had looked useful in his two earlier runs - and his
yard has not hit the all-conquering form of 2004 this season. The
finish was decided by a neck, and the pair jumped the last
together, with both of them nosing in front at various stages on
the run in. A good effort from Jac An Ree, as his easy maiden win
had come against far less challenging opponents. Honourable Spider,
who stood out in the paddock with Magniolia, lost nothing in defeat
in only his second ever race and as a mere six year old looks to
have a big future ahead of him. I would also like to commend the
sponsors for being both supporters of pointing and brewers of
Bombardier. Well done.
Three of the field are, left to right, John
The Mole, Jac An Ree & Honourable Spider breaking their fearful
symmetry. So that must be Magniolia's feet behind them
Barrett's
Of Ashford Men’s Open
1: Tricky Trevor 2: Cedar Chief 3: The Grey Baron
winner owned and trained by Mrs H Cobb, ridden by Philip
York This was not the greatest of Open races, and the
winner was actually beaten in the Confined at the same fixture in
2004. He has not improved that much in the mean time! Having been
in and out of the lead all the way, Tricky Trevor was clear two
out, and apart from a mistake at the last, it was plain sailing to
a degree not matching his name. It was another game effort from
Cedar Chief, just beating off The Grey Baron on the run-in. There
was plenty of money for East Anglian visitor Westfield John, but he
had reminders quite early despite sporting blinkers, and never
threatened to take a hand.
Kenny Davis leads slightly from Tricky
Trevor (15) and Westfield John. Cedar Chief is the white faced
menace uncharacteristically not taking an early lead
Calcutt
Maclean Standen Ladies’ Open
1: Little Worsall 2: Heracles
winner owned by Mrs & Mrs F Marshall, trained by Mrs F
Marshall, ridden by Hannah Grissell As with the
Restricted, four set off and only two finished. Little Worsall
seems to be rediscovering his excellent form of 2003, with this
being win number two of the season, but at the last Heracles was
probably travelling the better as the pair were more or less level.
The differences proved to be that Little Worsall jumped the last
better and then Hannah Grissell was more effective in riding the
finish and edged further clear all the way to the line. Heracles
did not look like falling, but lacked the fluency over the
obstacles of his conqueror. Fair Exchange got into a fair old sweat
before the off and ran a lacklustre race until pulling up at the
top of the hill before three out.
Gaby
Hardwicke Solicitors Confined
1: Tell The Nipper 2: No Reward 3: Tubber Streams
winner owned and trained by Mrs C Gorman, ridden by Marcus
Gorman With only a Members win to his name since 2001,
Tell The Nipper is not the force of old, but his rivals caught him
in fine fettle for this, and he had the race in the bag a long way
out. A moment of indecision at the last caused anxiety for his
backers but the margin in the end was as wide as something quite
wide indeed. No Reward was never going that well and got second due
to perseverance rather than genius, and picked up sixty quid for
second, which is really slight reward. Despite being placed last
week, and catching the eye in the paddock today, Tubber Streams has
not showed great talent on either occasion. The fourth placed
horse, Gola Leader, was subject to a stewards enquiry, which
accepted the explanation that he was outpaced in the back straight
and ran on through beaten horses. In reality, Gola Leader conceded
fifteen lengths before the first, made no attempt to close it and
finished fresh as paint, whilst others wilted in front of him. It
seemed more like a case of a very inexperienced jockey riding with
a lack of confidence, and expect instant improvement if Gola Leader
is turned out under one of the top pilots, as the horse has plenty
of ability.
No Reward watches Tell The Nipper (right)
scoot off to victory but decides Tubber Streams (maroon & red)
is catchable
Grants
Cherry Brandy Open Maiden
1: Give Us A Chance 2: Change The Plan 3: Selfcertified
winner owned by SP Tindall, trained by Mrs J Gordon, ridden by
Chris Gordon A huge field, by Catsfield standards, of
thirteen contested this. Connections has heeded the plea in the
winner's name, supplying a visor and a tongue tie, and also turning
him out in good enough condition to win the best turned out. Having
attended to his mental health, raised his sense of self worth and
kept him sound for only his second run since 2003, they then saw
Give Us A Chance rise to the occasion by readily seeing off the
favourite, despite the mistake at the last that was obligatory on
the day for horses clear of the field. Change The Plan did nothing
wrong, just got beaten by a better horse. Youngster Selfcertified
was making his seasonal debut after two pulled up runs last year
and appears to be progressing. On his first run for two years,
Rainy Day did very well, keeping tabs on the leaders until two out,
at which point he was quickly pulled up. A very encouraging return.
After an educational at Charing, Bella Flora jumped badly at the
back, but has something to work on should the skill penny ever
drop. Big Mossy, who is badly named as it should be Incredibly Vast
Mossy, played up at the start and either refused or was withdrawn,
and is one to be wary of.
The winner assumes command from Moss
Campion, grey Divine Mist and cheekpieced Sugar Toi. The odd angle
is because as I took the picture I saw a loose horse coming up very
close to the rope rail, and felt my life expectancy would benfit
from a quick stride backwards
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