The Yorkshire season got off to a flying start on Sunday with the running of the Yorkshire Area Club Meeting at Sheriff Hutton, by kind permission of Mick Easterby. Run in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, the meeting presented a cheque to this fantastic charity for £14,894 from last year’s meeting, on a very competitive card, where the smallest field of runners was 10. The last time a meeting could boast such a strong turn out was at Larkhill back in December of 2020, when Covid lockdowns meant Britain was staging fewer fixtures. The star on display was last year’s Cheltenham Foxhunters winner, Premier Magic, brilliantly handled by rider and trainer Bradley Gibbs.
In recent seasons cameras have been situated on the finish to provide “photo finishes” in the event of a close result and this weekend it was in much demand, with two dead heats. The first of which came in the Ladies Open. It saw recent Alnwick winner Ballydonagh Boy under usual pilot Rosie Howarth lead over the last, however a strong challenge from Mount Mews under Roisin Leech down the outside saw the latter join the leader on the line. Both teams were delighted to share the first honours as trainers Lucinda Hughes and Sam Coward lifted the winning trophy.
The second of the two tight finishes came in the final race, the 2m 4f Maiden and saw the Jack Teal trained and ridden Fire In Her Eyes, who was making her British debut, whilst the John Dawson ridden Wottinger trained by his wife Alice was joined on the line. Wottinger looked to have the race after the last, but Jack Teal galvanized his mount up the straight to join Dawson on the line. Fire In Her Eyes showed minor promise in Ireland, however has pleased her trainer since joining his team “she gave me some feel there…Ben at home said she felt better than a pointer” said the winning trainer. Wottinger was having his first start of the year after several placed efforts last season, he is another successful produce of Nunstainton stud, run by John’s brother Chris “he’s a really nice horse and we’ve always loved him” said John. The Dale Peters trained Destination Mahler was sent off favourite but could only manage a distant third, but will no doubt come good in due course.
The three mile Maiden was divided on the day and the first division went to Cash Or Card trained by Dale Peters. Where’s Hector laid down a sustained challenge all the way up the home straight, however the son of Libertarian pulled out plenty after the last and could be one to improve further “I think he could be very smart…he’s never worked that well on soft ground at home so should improve for better ground” said an enthusiastic trainer. It was not to be a fairytale winner on home soil for the Easterby trained Where’s Hector under Harry Myddelton, however a maiden should easily be within his compass with these two the only finishers.
Division two went to Will Easterby aboard his own Rue Galilee, a son of Champs Elysees, the winner had shown little to date but was always held in good regard by his trainer/rider. Bought as a foal, it was a first point to point winner for the Habton Racing Club who had previously had a winner on the flat, Gabrielle De Balon threw away his chances with a bad blunder at the last for the Tom Ellis team and can no doubt get his head in front soon, whilst Greater Glory was back in third.
The Restricted saw an excellent display from the lightly raced Fortunes Hill under Paddy Barlow for trainer John Barlow. The pair held a narrow advantage at the last until, with the only challenger Latenightrumble unseating Jack Andrews when holding every chance, this allowed the son of Soldier Of Fortune to stride clear and win impressively “he had a bit of a virus last year so he didn’t get many runs in…we’ll go for Intermediates now with an eye to going to Cheltenham” enthused his trainer, whose charge looked to thrive in these testing conditions “he’s not ground dependent but he stays all day” said John. Courting Flow was returning from a long absence and came with a strong finish after the last and take second under Christy Furness, whilst Jeux d’Eau was back in third under Huw Edwards.
The opening race was a level 2 Conditions race and went the way of the improving 7yo Lagan Valley under James King. The son of Shirocco galloped on strongly up the home straight to fend off the strong late finish of Darius Des Sources and Lois Teal who put in another bold display, whilst Red Opium put up an excellent effort on her seasonal return in third. Sourced from Ireland by Richard Curran for trainer Julie Wadland, today’s race was his toughest assignment yet “Richard's found us some nice horses, but this one is by far the best” said his trainer who is keen to see how good he is “he wants soft ground so we’ll carry on and see how good he is…this was a tough race for his first run!” said Julie.
In the Men’s Open all eyes were on last year’s Cheltenham Foxhunters winner Premier Magic from the Bradley Gibbs stable. Piloted by his trainer Gibbs’ he was well clear over the last, but had to be kept up to his work on the run in to score, Torygraph was running one of his career bests since going pointing under James King back in second, with the rallying The Creadan Rogue in third.