31 January 2012 Report: Midlands Area Club - Thorpe Lodge
by Emma Forman
Overnight frost led to an hour delay to the start of the Midlands Area Club Point-to-Point races at Thorpe Lodge on Sunday.
240 entries resulted in 111 runners contesting 10 races on the day.
The opening Castle Rock Mark Ashton Memorial Midlands Area Club Members race resulted in a win for Helen Connor's Quorn qualified Django who was confidently ridden by Harriet Bethell. The 13-year-old was in the lead with a circuit to run and put up such a good display of jumping that he was greeted with a round of applause from the crowd as he passed the line 10 lengths clear of Hardwick Wood and Henry Gurney.
Hardwick Wood's trainer Gerald Bailey teamed up with other trainers from the area to sponsor the Intermediate race, a qualifier for the £7,000 3m1½f Red Mills Intermediate Point-to-Point Championship Hunter Chase Final at Cheltenham on Wednesday 2nd May. In this race the five-year-old mare Always Roses gave George Henderson his first winner of the season. Henderson sat patiently behind the leaders on this diminutive chestnut mare before taking the initiative at the last fence when the leader Fairymount made a mistake. "She's tiny; we bred her otherwise we wouldn't have her." said Henderson's father James, the owner of Always Roses, after the race.
George Henderson's younger brother Frederick made his debut in the next race, the Dodson & Horrell PPORA Club Members Race for Novice Riders finishing third on The Luder. In this race 29-year-old Jonathan Rogers rode his first winner here on the well backed favourite Crazy Eyes. Rogers didn't have an easy time of it once he hit the front two fences from home; he had to withhold the challenge of Reasonably Sure and Derek Smith with no stirrups after the saddle slipped on the run in. "I started race riding quite late in life but thankfully Mr Rowley (trainer of Crazy Eyes) is letting me on some good horses," said the delighted Rogers. This race was a qualifier for the £1,000 Dodson & Horrell PPORA Club Members Novice Riders Series Final at Tabley on Sunday 20th May. The first three riders also scored points in the Harley racing National Novice Riders Championship.
Trainer Sheila Crow travelled from Shropshire to saddle a double, starting with Current Exchange in the Lincolnshire Meat Company Mens Open race. Ridden by Tom David, Current Exchange's task was made easier when Caulkin and David Kemp crashed out at the last fence. The owner, Sheila Crow's son Alastair, said that he hoped to take in a Hunter Chase at Leicester with this gelding which he bought as a foal.
The second leg of the Sheila Crow double came in the next race, the Sharp Nutrition Restricted race which divided on the day. This time Patrick Gerety had Walcot Lathyrus in the lead leaving the back straight for the last time and Derek Pugh's gelding stayed on well to beat Watoscar. Open races are next on the cards for Walcot Lathyrus and then maybe a tilt at the John Corbet Hunter Chase at Stratford. The second and faster division of this race was won by Gold Cup-winning jockey Sam Waley-Cohen who was recording his third win of the season. Sam's father Robert bought this gelding at Cheltenham sales and had sent him hunting with the Warwickshire on Wednesday to keep him happy ready for the race.
Connections of Rathcor were delighted when Claire Hart steered him to victory in the D & M Barthorpe AGA Ladies Open race. Stephen Rea and his team had been told that the gelding wouldn't race again following a leg injury but their patience was rewarded when the 10-year-old took up the lead at the final fence. "This is a special horse. We may take in a Hunter Chase at Bangor and then maybe think about the Foxhunter at Cheltenham," said Rea. The first four riders past the post in this race scored points in the AGA "Total Control" Lady Riders Championship.
The NFU Maiden race split into three divisions on the day and with the daylight fading organisers acted promptly to fit these races in. Howareyougoingon and The Wychough won Division 2 and 3 respectively. The Holly Campbell-trained Popaway provided 34-year-old Joe Docker with his 100th winner in Division 1. Docker's riding career has spanned 18 seasons with his first winner coming on board Raise An Argument when he was 16-years-old.
The next meeting in the Midlands Area is the Brocklesby Point-to-Point at Brocklesby Park on Saturday 18th February, first race 12.30pm.
