If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same (Rudyard Kipling)
Racing is a sport for those who dream; for those who rise early every morning to greet the dawn and return home as the light is fading. A sport for those who will always know that they must face both triumph and disaster every time they place their charges on the track. That is why they, and we, love it so much. This is a sport that causes the hairs to stand on the back of your neck and tears to spring to your eyes. Never more so than when at around 4pm on Saturday 26 May, Jodie Hughes and Elen Nicholas rode side by side at a sedate pace in the winner's enclosure. With horses both being led next to each other, neither girl know the result of their neck-and-neck race to the line in the Ladies' Open. When the result was called, Jodie reached out and raised Elen's hand high in the air in a gesture of mutual triumph.
A dead-heat.
In Jodie's words, "I thought I had it, then I heard hooves coming up beside me." Jodie's mount, the ever-popular and game Patricktom Boru was scoring his 13th win between the flags, while Hospital, trained by Micky Bowen for his rider, was only claiming his second. Neither are youngsters, being 12 and 11 respectively, but both looked superb in the paddock, and great credit has to be given to Stephen Parkhouse, the hands-on work rider and carer of Patricktom Boru for the Wilcox family, as the horse looks a picture on every occasion despite having run no less than 39 races.
The day had started with another sentimental tale. Many years ago, Nigel Lilley had never been to a Point-to-Point meeting at all. He wrote a letter to the secretary of an upcoming event, the Ystrad Hunt Point-to-Point. Carol Banwell sent him a letter with details of the meeting and a car pass, and the rest, as they say, is history. Nigel has been both breeder and owner ever since, and at Saturday's event his Silver Louna came out best in a bunching finish under National Champion-elect Will Biddick, in a time of 6.19, only half a length ahead of Airpur Desbois. Nigel can often be seen at Point-to-Points across the country, a quiet, unassuming man who is always polite and friendly to all. His gentlemanly manner reflects in his care for his horses, as he gave Silver Louna the time to recover from a suspensory ligament injury after first being purchased in 2017 at the Ascot sales.
The Confined saw another victory for in-form Ben Jones, on Amber Mathias's highly impressive Midnight Folie. Making all from start to finish, the further the mare went, the faster she went, and she romped home by 20 lengths from Kings Cross. This was the start of a successful day for Ben, as he headed off to Ffos Las for the evening meeting, where he rode a winner for Paul and Debbie Hamer. Ben will join the ranks of the professionals at the season's end and is currently in Benidorm for a few days R&R, having somehow managed to miss his initial flight and making a reroute to Luton Airport.
With both Ben and Jack Tudor taking on the Conditional Jockey mantle for next year, there is some speculation about where the next crop of talent will come from. A ready-made candidate to climb the ladder in their place is Morgan Winstone, who booted home Jonathan Phillips' Oscar Fiain in the Men's Open. Morgan had already caught the eye of many an experienced pundit when steering the quirky Full of Roque around Bonvilston a few weeks earlier. Hopefully the temptation of professionalism won't kick in just yet and we will see more of this young lad on the Point-to-Point circuit for a few years to come. Clerk of the Course Tim Jones will have been proud with the game run of his Ruperra Tom back in second.
The first of the Maidens, for younger horses, saw a double for Jodie Hughes as she rode her father's Morehurrylesshaste to victory. Trained by Kieran Price, the six-year-old Court Cave gelding had been in the first three on his last four outings and was a well-deserved winner. Ben Jones had attempted to make all the running on Hitroadjack but found himself being overhauled shortly after the open ditch. Epalo de La Thinte looked all over the winner until the dying strides and went down by a neck, much to trainer Jonathan Tudor's disappointment. At only five years old, the gelding's day will surely come.
Jockey Shane Quinlan didn't have to wait too long to claim a winner as he steered the Nick Williams-trained Belle of Steele home in the Open Maiden, with Long Mile Road a very hard-ridden second. Shane is another talented rider, who will hopefully keep his amateur status so that he can be seen on the circuit next year.
Doubles are the order of the day for young Edward Vaughan. Both pony races went his way, with his Little Replacement and the eye-catching White Water. His father-trainer, Tim, had sent several runners to FFos Las but had no hesitation in stating that he would rather be watching his son ride.
Edward's double brought the curtain down on the South Wales season and, sadly, on the last-ever day's racing at Lower Machen. Credit must go to Tim Jones and his team for all their hard work, and the busy crowd was rewarded with a good day's racing.
It seems hard to believe that this is the last review that will be written for this year but once the dust has settled, a full look back over the season will be put together. In the meantime, racegoers can have one last day out in Wales at Trecoed this coming Saturday, when the Area Championships will be decided once and for all.