The final point-to-point of the Midlands Area season took place at Dingley racecourse, just outside Market Harborough in Leicestershire, on Saturday 13th May and produced doubles for jockey Jack Andrews and trainer Tom Ellis. Dale Peters trains and rides Thunderstruck, who made it two wins from the last three outings as he won the first […]
Quorn at Garthorpe - Report
Fine weather brought a bumper Bank Holiday weekend crowd to Garthorpe for the Quorn's fixture, which saw a double for trainer David Kemp among the results of six races. The ground at Garthorpe was officially good and praised by jockeys throughout the fixture, a testament to the hard work put in by Clerk of the Course Brian Crawford and his irrigation team during the run up.
Photos of the meeting are now available from point-to-point-racing/2022/quorn-garthorpe-30apr22" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nico Morgan.
The opener was an interesting conditions race which saw much of the running made by The Unmentionable, ridden and trained by Dale Peters for Freda and Neville Clark. Tracking this combination was Meisha Micklewright riding John Chatfeild-Roberts' Santon for Kelly Morgan, fresh from two recent wins. As the leaders turned into the final straight, though, it was Largy Mountain, the mount of James King, who finished strongly, crossing the line with Peters and The Unmentionable. This season we have been lucky to have been able to film all Midlands area finishes in slow motion from the Judge's position and after close examination of that footage the Judge declared the result as a dead heat.
After all that excitement it was unfortunate that there was only a single declaration for the Open race which followed, so a walkover was carried out by Badbad Leroy Brown, under Zac Baker, for Lucy Wiles and they were presented with the historic Quorn Gold Cup. Conditions races seem to be attracting the entries from Open horses, to the detriment of the feature races on fixture cards, something which will have to be worked on for next year's calendar.
The Restricted race saw the first of trainer David Kemp's two wins for the afternoon, as Alex Chadwick steered The Oak Partnership's Ballinagore to victory over Outlaw Dream (Ben Bromley) and Karismatic (Max Chenery). This was the second win in April for the diminutive Milan seven-year-old who will now be given a rest before returning next season.
Kemp followed this up with a second training success as Rupert Stearn rode Clara Sorrento to win the Conditions race, next on the card. The winner was tracked by Gina Andrews on Killinkere throughout the race and many of the spectators may have expected her to move past in the latter stages, but the French-bred eleven-year-old grey was impressive as he ran out well to win.
The Maiden race was the penultimate contest on the card but produced perhaps the most impressive performance of the day. This time it was John Dawson on board ChoosetheNews who accompanied favourite Doctor Tom (Tom Chatfeild-Roberts) at the head of the field of twelve runners for much of the race, but proved too strong for anyone in the final stages, pulling away to win easily in the end for owner and trainer Jack Teal.
Finally, the conditions race for Lady jockeys and horses aged seven years and over saw a contest between two horses previously in training with Dan Skelton in the form of Longhouse Sale and No Hassle Hoff. The former, a winner over two and a half miles at Kimble a fortnight ago, had Gina Andrews in the saddle for Father Simon, but even that combination wasn't enough to catch No Hassle Hoff (K. Gowing), who backed up their Ladies Open win in March at Penshurst with a good win here for Ben and Edward Turner.
The season continues apace in the Midlands area with our next meeting which is hosted by the Fernie at Dingley next Sunday, 8th May, and incorporates the Midlands Area feature race for the season, the Fernie Four-Miler. There are e-tickets available for this fixture, or you can pay on the gate as usual. We look forward to your company there.
Recent Posts
2pm Race 1 - PPORA Conditions Race kindly sponsored by Boiler Juice. 13 entered in the first race of the day. Championship chasing Jack Andrews has the choice of 3,whichever he rides will have a big chance. Minella Wizard ran well when second at the Easter meeting here, possibly the race came toosoon after his […]
Dingley’s second meeting of the year was also the Midland Area’s penultimate fixture of the season, the Fernie’s, and brought a good number of runners to the Market Harborough course, where Charles Millington and his team had prepared an excellent racing surface. The feature race of the afternoon was the Mixed Open for the Fernie […]
The penultimate fixture in the Midlands area is the point-to-point hosted by the Fernie at Dingley on Sunday 30th April 2023. The first of six horse races is scheduled for 2pm and of course there will be numerous trade stands to explore, caterers providing food and drink, a licensed bar, fun dog show, bookmakers and […]
A dry week in the lead up to the Quorn’s point-to-point on Saturday 22nd April produced some excellent racing on soft/good to soft ground at Leicestershire’s home of racing, Garthorpe racecourse. The meeting also broke new ground by hosting a schooling race, organised by Clerk of Course Jim Culloty which provided an opportunity for trainers […]
Used to have the 1st bookmakers pitch, maybe time to come back and put some life into the market?