28 February 2008 Leicester - Cottesmore Maiden Hunters' Chase
Minouchka: a progressing nicely
Kelly Bryson will no doubt have had mixed feelings about Minouchka's Maiden Hunter Chase victory at Leicester. Kelly would have been in the saddle but for a fall on Sunday which left her "nursing an unreal headache," said owner-trainer Philippa Shirley-Beavan, adding "She'll be furious she missed it."
Super-sub Chris Dawson got the call on Monday morning, but had he not decided upon a change of habit he too could have been a spectator. "If I don't recognise the phone number I usually ignore it," he explained, "so I'm glad I answered it this time."
Chris's main problem came on the way out of the paddock, when the mare was plunging and playing up, but he had been prepared for her antics, having been forewarned by Tom Scudamore who had ridden her for the Shirley-Beavans when she ran under Rules.
Philippa is now scratching her head over what to do next. "She'll get penalised in Hunter Chases, but I'm not sure now about my plan to go for the Ladies' Open at Dalston," she said. There will no doubt have been plenty of discussion on the 5½ hour journey back home.
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Minouchka's victory took her unbeaten run to four since joining the Shirley-Beavans, but it is unlikely that her career has been followed by one punter who presumably has defective eyesight. He was overheard by Philippa to say "I couldn't back a bag of bones like that!"
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The well-fancied The Hookie Bookie, who had been uncharacteristically calm in the preliminaries, failed to take to regulation fences and was in trouble some way from home. "He jumped very big at the first and frightened himself," said rider Tom Ellis, "then he got murdered on the bend and was never going after that."
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Two riders were in trouble with the stewards over misuse of the whip. Danny Cook, partner of Lanicene, was given a five-day holiday for excessive use, and Jodie Hughes, who rode Balloughton, was referred to the BHA for what was considered a more serious offence of both excessive use and not giving her mount time to respond.
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It was unfortunate that the last two fences were unable to be jumped due to damage, which tended to devalue the contest somewhat for all the runners. The middle obstacle in the straight had been taken out after the first race, but when Rustic John went through the wing of the next one, with a circuit still to run, it seemed as though there would have been plenty of time to repair the damage. It was, however, dolled off, and the field had a long run for home.
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Caroline Keevil, who ran a very successful Point-to-Point yard before taking out a full licence on October 1st, saddled her initial winner as a public trainer when Ballyvaden won the 2m7½f Handicap Chase. "It's such a relief to get off the mark," she smiled. "You never know if the Point-to-Point horses are going to be up to it." Then, just like buses, along came another one, as 30 minutes later Minella Lodge, who had also scored between the flags for Caroline, took the 2m4f Novices' Chase.
Both winners belong to Caroline's landlord Michael O'Connor. "He doesn't like to travel far [the journey from Somerset had taken four hours] but he'll have been watching on TV," she said.