In contrast to the previous evening’s 38 runners, the seven race professional card on Saturday was graced by 64 runners and a division that made for an eight race treat for spectators.
However, the plague of small fields is still affecting the summer calendar, and three races failed to make it to 3 place each way betting. Let us hope this has as much to do with the dry Spring as any underlying issues with the horse population.
Ella Pickard ran 44 runners last term for 3 winners from her Somerset yard not far from Taunton. Her stats look very different this time around, as Stans The Man scored handsomely in the feature Farmers Fresh Handicap Chase under Ben Godfrey to make it 3 from 9 runners, a strike rate Dan Skelton would be proud of.
My Gift To You, trained by James Owen and ridden by champion Sean Bowen, was sent off the 3/1 favourite in this very open handicap, but Stans The Man was sent out in front and stayed there throughout, seeing off the challenges of Hidden Heroics and Ajp Kingdom to win by 12l. There’s no reason he should not continue flying the flag for the Pickard camp at this level.
Romanor has been a grand servant to the Seamus Mullins yard over the years, and it looked briefly as if he might return to winning ways in the lower class Supporting Dogs for Good Handicap Chase 30 minutes later. The winner of 6 of his 45 chases had to settle for second place again on a frustrating evening for the Salisbury Plain handler. Always prominent, he has picked off by Village Master and James Bowen for Warren Greatrex, the latter winning by 2 1/4l.
Mullins had reason to curse the division of the mares limited handicap hurdle he fielded 3 across the two races and narrowly escaped a winner. In the first division, Basilette was outpaced behind the 11/10 favourite Auntie Maggie, who made all under Jonathan Burke to win by 3 3/4l for Alistair Ralph.
The second division appeared a harder-fought affair, at least for the minor placings. Fillyfudge, beaten 6l in a similar contest here in March, went one better for Jack Quinlan and Newmarket handler Lemos de Souza, with an authoritative display and a 12l wining distance. Mullins’ two tussled for second and third, Sadies Diamond beating Masonbrook Meadow a neck. An evening of what might have been.
Six lined up for the Gambling Prince Novices Handicap Chase, a rare third steeplechase for this time of year. Iskar d’Airy was sent off 11/8 favourite on the back of a winning similar performance at Warwick in mid April, and saw off the challenges of Mary and Asian Star to win readily by 5l, Matt Sheppard’s Blackijo Dagrostis running on from the back into second. It was a first chase winner for the new father-son training partnership of Gary & Josh Moore, who endured a bleak season by their high standards last time around. By contrast, they are running at a strike rate of 29% at this early stage f the Jumps campaign.
Harry Cobden is not a frequent visitor to the summer jumps courses, but enjoyed a winning ride for Emma Lavelle on one of three rides for the evening, on Bethpage in the Cortaflex Handicap Hurdle over 2m5f. It was a textbook ride, staying handy throughout, and picking off the leader at the last to win by 3 1/4l. It’s always a pleasure to see riders with impeccable timing.
Anthony Honeyball and Rex Dingle travelled up from the West Country to win the opener, a novices hurdle, with Public Enemy. Always handy, he took it up two out and kept on.
The evening concluded with a handicap hurdle in the gloaming. If favourite backers had assumed this a shoo-in for the Skelton team, they were cruelly disabused by the James Owen – trained Laravie under 5lb claiming amateur Alex Chadwick. The winner had a little in hand and might reasonably be expected to go in again.
