DIARY – STRATFORD UPON AVON – SUNDAY 19 JULY 2009
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The Martin Keighley trained King Ozzy
returns to the Winners’ Enclosure 4 rides for Choc at Stratford Upon Avon today,
although there was a threat of heavy showers.
It was Ladies Day at the course too.
I left home just after 10:00, travelling via
Hemel Hempstead (the Belted Galloway herd was in their usual field). I
encountered a cloud burst just west of Aylesbury (before Waddesdon). And it was raining most of the way as I
drove northwards up the M40 too. There
was no hold-up at the Bishopton roundabout today so my route to the course,
via Shottery, went smoothly. I noticed Andrew Thornton, having arrived before
13:00, set out for a run around the course with a colleague from the Weighing
Room. The sun, having come out for a
period, was replaced by a heavy downpour.
It would be sunshine and heavy showers throughout the afternoon, culminating
in a torrential downpour just before 17:30!
Choc’s
mount in the first race was the Richard Phillips trained Khumbu. His assistant, Gordy Clarkson (the man who
originally bestowed the name of ‘Chocolate’ upon the lovely Robert) was on
hand to remove the horse’s rug before Choc was legged up into the saddle and
exited onto the course.
The start of this race was at the
beginning of the home straight, so was just over two circuits in length. Two horses were reluctant to line up, Cave
of the Giant which was led in, and Zimbabwe which almost refused to start at
all, setting off so slowly that he was lengths behind the others and was
pulled up having jumped just two flights! Initially Choc’s mount, Khumbu, was lined up right against the
tape and planted himself as the other horses took a turn to come in
again. Choc managed to turn him around
but had lost his position so set off in mid-field. The field was led off by Bathwick Man, with Three Lions, Rock Me
and the grey, Aberdeen Park prominent.
Jug of Punch was soon ridden along, and became tailed off although he
did finish the race! Down the back straight first time, Choc pushed Khumbu up on the
outside of the field, but the horse had to be ridden after the 7th obstacle
and became tailed off before being pulled up before the 9th flight. Cave of the Giants fell at the 9th,
hampering Old Peak Road. Bathwick Man led the field until after 2 out, with Aberdeen Park
then taking up the running. Despite
making an error at the last flight, the latter went on to win by 2˝
lengths.
Having pulled his mount up, Choc was the last to return,
Gordy Clarkson and also trainer Martin Keighley going onto the course to help
unsaddle the horse. It was at this
time that the next heavy rain shower decided to commence, and I was forced to
seek shelter, although I did hang around long enough to see Choc return from
speaking with Richard Phillips and the horse’s connections in the Parade Ring
before he returned to the Weighing Room.
It was soon time for the second race of the day.
The race being just over 2 miles in distance,
started over in the far corner of the track.
Bet Noir’s jockey, A Freeman (sorry I don’t know his first name), had
to adjust his mount’s saddle at the start. Then they were off. Jethro Wheeler led them away, with North
Walk, Tora Petcha and Feeling prominent.
General Mayo made a mistake at the 2nd flight, with How Realee
blundering at the 3rd, where Tora Petcha wasn’t fluent either. North Walk took over the lead from Jethro
Wheeler at the 6th, but blundered and was headed by Tora Petcha at the 3rd
last, the latter going on to win by 1˝ lengths. Feeling stayed on to finish
2nd, with Bet Noir 3rd and Just Mossie 4th.
Bet Noir’s rider (having finished 3rd) fell off after
the winning post and had to be attended to by the doctor. He was stood down
for the remainder of the day but, although he could not weigh in, the
stewards decided that as no other horses/jockeys had been involved in the
incident, the horse was allowed to keep 3rd place. There were no bids for the winner in the auction
following the race, and none of the other horses were claimed. I took up my usual position beside the Parade
Ring, near to the winning post and watched the horses arrive and the jockeys mount
before I settled by the course-side rails.
Choc’s mount in this race was the Sir Robert Ogden owned, Peter Bowen
trained, Coc Hardi.
This race started at the far end of the home
straight. The favourite was Tot of the
Knar, having her first run for Tim Vaughan’s yard, 2nd favourite was Coq
Hardi, 3rd favourite was the Paul Nicholls runner, a flashy dark bay called
Just Amazing with Christian Williams aboard. Time for yet another very heavy shower as the 5
competitors milled around at the start.
Having positioned myself just past the water jump, my view was
partially obscured by a large umbrella and I had to move further up the
course. However, in the event, the
first photo I took was blurred, as I was struggling to hold up my own
umbrella at the time! Then they were off. Just Amazing led off, with Choc in second,
Tot of the Knar jumping the first awkwardly at the rear of the field. By the 7th obstacle, the latter had
improved into 3rd position. Coq Hardi
was not jumping particularly smoothly, and was being pushed along by 4
out. He blundered at the 3rd last, the
open-ditch, Choc going to the buckle end and almost losing his balance. This enabled Tot of the Knar to overtake
him. The other two runners were well
behind at this stage. Just Amazing was still bowling on in front, well
clear and went on the win by a distance.
Tot of the Knar finished 2nd, with Choc driving out his mount to just
hold on to 3rd place on the line from the fast finishing Shenanigan. By the time the race was completed, the sun had
appeared again.
I
walked around to the Winners’ Enclosure to see Choc arrive back. Quite rightly he appeared disappointed with
Coq Hardi’s run today, as he was shaking his head as he spoke to trainer
Peter Bowen. Once
Choc had returned to the Weighing Room I returned to the area between the
Parade Ring and the course-side rails in preparation for the next race of the
day.
The start of this race was over in the far corner
of the track. Then they were off. Christian Williams sent the Paul Nicholls trained
runner, Classic Swain, into the lead, although he was not always jumping
fluently. Chalentina chased the
leader, with Consulate in touch in 3rd position. In rear, Seader was hampered at the
first. Classic Swain, who started at 3-1 on favourite,
was being pushed along by the 6th flight, Twill drawing alongside to
challenge him before the latter faded.
Having repelled Twill, Classic Swain then hit 2 out, by which time
Consulate had joined him. Despite a
lack of fluency over both the final 2 obstacles, Consulate went on to win by
a distance of 1˝ lengths on the line. Classic Swain held on to 2nd, with
Seader 13 lengths away in 3rd.
By the time the horses started to arrive in the
Parade Ring ahead of the 4th race, it had clouded over yet again and was spitting
with rain. Martin Keighley’s King Ozzy
was the first horse to appear, the handler making a joke about umbrellas as
he walked by leading the horse! It was
also now time for Choc’s 3rd ride of the day.
For this particular race, I positioned myself beside the rails
further down the course so as to get a better view of the final flight.
The start of this race was away to our right, at
beginning of the stretch of course running away from the stands. There were a number of runners causing problems
before the start. Initially the grey,
Sagarich, and Laconicos were reluctant to join the other horses, but
eventually the former trotted over, and the latter was led to join them. The field took a turn. Then it was Panadin which planted himself,
so the field took another turn.
Panadin still refused to budge, so they went without him, having been
withdrawn. The field was led off by Sagarich, followed by Champion
De Sou. King Ozzy was keen in 3rd,
initially racing alongside Choc’s mount, Phar Again. As they turned into the straight for the
first time, the fancied Bankstair and favourite Classic Shot travelled in
mid-field, joint 2nd favourite Danish Monarch was held up in rear. Always prominent, King Ozzy took the lead from
Sagarich approaching 2 out and, although there appeared to be 5 other horses
in with a chance as they turned into the home straight, King Ozzy appeared
the most likely winner as he approached the last, going on to win by 1˝
lengths from Danish Monarch and Crazy Bold.
Having raced keenly, Phar Again weakened after
the 7th flight and became tailed off.
He was pulled up before 2 out.
It is at this stage that I have to confess I didn’t see Choc arrive
back at the finish, as I went to the Winners’ Enclosure to see the triumphant
King Ozzy come back in! Sorry
Choc!!! As King Ozzy was led in, Martin stopped the horse
to remove a twisted front shoe, before they walked across the Parade Ring to
the Winners’ Enclosure.
Having taken some photos (one of them above), I
introduced myself to Martin’s wife Belinda, who had brought their son Freddie
to the races today. Evidently she had
not originally intended to come along, but a last minute phone call had been
made to persuade her, and luck was on their side. This was also their first Stratford
winner! It was then time for the final ‘professional’
race of the day. Choc’s mount in this
event was the JP McManus owned, Jonjo O’Neill trained, Tempsford. AP McCoy was riding at Newton Abbot today,
so presumably Jonjo had gone to the Devon fixture too. Tempsford is the name of a village in
Bedfordshire, which I drive past as I travel along the A1 to reach
Huntingdon, it’s just south of the Black Cat roundabout.
The start of this event was away to our left, at
the start of the home straight, the race being just over 2 circuits in
distance. Then they were off. The Nigel Twiston-Davies trained, Paddy
Brennan ridden, front-running Scalloway led them off, followed by Black
Anshan. Alfie’s Sun chased the leader
and soon took over 2nd position.
Tempsford was held up in mid-field, as was Flashy Sir at the back of
the field. The Tim Vaughan trained favourite, House of
Bourbon, ran disappointingly, blundering badly 3 out and was pulled up. Alfie’s Sun took over the lead at the 11th
obstacle, and was soon in command, going on to win by 4 lengths. Tempsford had made headway by the 8th, but
didn’t jump the 4th last particularly well.
Flashy Sir, despite making a couple of mistakes and being initially
outpaced, just caught Tempsford on the line to take 2nd place by a nose.
I went around to the Winners’ Enclosure to see
Choc come back in. After trying to
undo the horse’s girth but without success, Choc stood back and let the
stable-lad have a go, although the latter was also had difficulty undoing
it! Eventually Choc headed for the
Weighing Room for the final time today. After racing there were 2 pony races – the first
race was for younger children on smaller ponies (138 cm and under - 13.2
hands and under for those who prefer imperial measurements … like me) – the
competitors included Paul Nicholls’ daughter, Megan. There were two non-runners in the
first. The ponies took ages to walk
down to the start, with one of the competitors a long way behind the others.
I stayed by the course-side rails for this event. Then it was time for the second race, for ponies
of 148 cm and under (14.2 hands and under).
One of Nigel Twiston-Davies’ sons was competing in this race and his
father and new business partner Carl Llewellyn were in attendance. All 12 ponies competed. It was pouring with rain by the time the final
race started, so I sought shelter underneath the building, beside the Tote
office. As soon as the ponies crossed
the line I set off to my car. I was
just settling in, having removed my wet raincoat, my jacket and put on a
cardigan in preparation for the drive home, when the heavens opened. The rain was torrential and, as it was
almost impossible to see out through the windscreen, I decided to wait in the
car park until it had passed. I
noticed a number of people who had got caught out, as they were soaked to the
skin! Whilst waiting, I rummaged in my
glove compartment and found two recently purchased Snickers bars, which I
consumed. It was then time to set off
home. Remembering last Sunday’s traffic problems on the
road leading to the M40, this Sunday I set off towards Stratford town centre,
turning right at the first roundabout and skirting the town until I reached
the A422 and then headed for Banbury.
This week I shall mention the Redwings Horse Sanctuary http://www.redwings.org.uk which has one of its visitors’
centres at Oxhill, which I passed on the way, and the beautiful village of
Wroxton near Banbury. As the weather still looked threatening, I
decided to avoid the M40 motorway and ventured out into the great unknown of
Northamptonshire and northern Buckinghamshire! As mentioned on previous occasions, I don’t
have satnav in my car, but I can recall seeing the route on a map and the
directions to Milton Keynes are very well signposted. My only surprise was that Milton Keynes
extended further west than expected (or perhaps I should say the constituent
town of Bletchley), and I was convinced I’d missed the A5. However, I was soon heading south along it
towards Hertfordshire ... making it feel more like a day out at Towcester
races in fact! I arrived home just before 20:00, ate tea, then
uploaded my photos and wrote my blog before retiring to bed. |
