Race reviews

Hunt Race	Five horses were declared. Tricky Trevor (Phil York) was the 4/9 fav. The only other horse that was not backable at 10's was Marcus Gorman on Tell The Nipper at 5/2. Satcotino under race debutante Claire Pointing (with a name like that she must be destined for bigger things in this sport) made an error after a circuit causing the partnership to be disbanded. The favourite then made an almighty blunder three fences later - one that Phil York did well to recover from. It may not be coincidence that, seeing his main opponent struggling to regain his feet in the stirrups, Marcus Gorman chose this point to up the pace. Having regained the irons, as well as his composure Phil set off in pursuit. The pair then drew clear of the rest of the field. The favourite then pulled out a two length lead which he held over the last three fences. Marcus however got a good run out of his mount after the last but could only reduce the gap to half a length before the post came. Royal Dew (David Evatt) finished a remote third.
Restricted	The organisers had set themselves a stiff task when deciding to reduce the inter-race gap from the normal 35 mins to 30 mins to accommodate the extra race at the end of the card. They must have been delighted then, as the runners for the second race circulated for the start one of the mounted assistants became detached from their steed which then indicated it's disgust at not being allowed to run in the Hunt Race by doing the best part of a circuit of the far infield. Betting in the 7 horse Restricted was close. Granny Smith (Jenny Gordon) was at 2's. Another Maiden winner last time out Trumper (Phil York) was available at 5/2 - the same price as Magnus Veritas (Stuart Robinson). The other four could be backed at 10's or higher. The field was well grouped for the first half of the race with only a couple of lengths covering the six still mounted horses as they jumped the last with a circuit to go. As they entered the back straight Magnus Veritas upped the pace and quickly had the field well stretched out. Granny and Jenny were the only ones to give serious chase. Granny tired in the run towards home and was caught by Trumper going into the last fence but Stuart Robinson was well clear of the pair by then.
Confined	Winner of both his outings so far this season Asthefellowsaid (Andrew Hickman) was the 2/1 favourite. At 3's was the meat in the sandwich at Godstone last week Cloudy Creek - this time piloted by Stuart Morris. Phil Yorks mount Charlies Angel was backable at 7/2. With Tanager at 5's the remainder of the 7 runners were at 12's and up. Once again the pace was sensible for the first circuit and the pack was still tightly packed after the first circuit. One again the race became quicker as the field went down the back for the last time. Cloudy Creek led, just, over the fourth last but the leading five were still covered by just five lengths. Asthefellowsaid, made his move and joined Cloudy at the third last with Charlies Angel a length behind them. Phil York moved up to jump the second last fractionally ahead of Cloudy Creek who made a mistake. Charlies Angel lead the favourite by a length at the last but Andrew stormed down the finish - all three practically in line fifty yards from the post but the favourite prevailed from Phil York with the other grey Cloudy Creek in third.
Ladies Open	Betting was close in the six runner Ladies Open. Best price for the Pippa Hall ridden Tom Cobbler was 15/8. Frank Byrne (Rilly Goschen) & Dick McCarthy (Sarah Ashby) could be both be backed at 9/4. Mr. Miller (Jenny Gordon) was a 7/1 chance with the other two at 12's. Dick McCarthy did most of the early work and still lead turning into the back straight for the last time. Pippa made her move and jumped into the lead at the sixth from home as the two of them went clear of the remainder. Tom Cobbler had a four length lead turning for home and maintained the lead to the line with Frank Byrne making late progress to at least finish third in sight of the leading two.
Mens Open	Splash And Dash (Andrew Hickman) was made a clear 4/5 fav. Only two of the other seven horses were priced at less than 14's - Phil York mount Eastern Point at 9/4 and the 6's for Dancing Fosenby (Mick Holdforth). And once again a sensible pace for the first circuit with the field reasonably closely bunched. No more than 8 lengths covering seven horses with a circuit to go Eastern Point, Splash And Dash and Dancing Fosenby went clear of the others as they turned into the back straight but two clumsy jumps by the former dropped him off the other two. The favourite had drawn out a five length lead as they turned for home and Dancing Fosenby had no reply. Eastern Point held on for third.
Club Members	You don't get many 16 year old odds-on favourites to the pound nowadays. But then you don't get many ex winners of the Kempton Boxing Day King George Chase running in point-to-points either. Winner of both his runs this season Algan (Phil York) was priced at 8/11. Second in the betting to the the ex-Francois Doumen trained runner was the ex-Martin Pipe trained Great Jubilee (Stuart Robinson) at 9/4. Galeaway (Julian Barnard) was at 11/2 with the remaining runner Full Egalite (Gordon Gallagher) at 8's. Galeaway unseated Julian Barnard with just under a circuit to go. Shortly afterwards Full Egalite recorded his third refusal within a week (Heaven forbid that we get a match between him and Ishma before the season is out!). Over the final mile the ten year younger runner always seemed to hold the upper hand and gradually pulled away.
Maiden	Biggest field of the day was the eleven that started the maiden. Sword Fighter (Phil York) was the favourite at 9/4. At 7/2 was Hever Road (Stuart Morris), 4's Ministerial (Chris Gordon), 5's The Flying Dragon (Steve Spice), 6's Merlots Mystery (Stuart Robinson) & Serves You Right (Joe Docker), 8's Chasing Buttercups (Rilly Goschen) and the other four at 12's or higher. Once again the first circuit was run at a sensible pace. So much so that all 11 were still running and all within 10 lengths of each other with a circuit to go. As they went to the fourth last Ministerial, Hever Road, Sword Fighter and Busmans Holiday were covered by just three lengths at the fourth from home but the latter started to drop away from the others shortly afterwards. Sword Fighter was the next to lose touch. The other two jumped the last together and Hever Road had gone half a length to the good half way up the run-in. By then Chris had got Ministerial, who had pecked on landing the last, back into top gear and he came back to claim the lead fifty yards from the post. Storm Fighter finished third.
CL&C & K&S Hunt race	Having teamed up successfully in the previous race Chris Gordon & the Bensteads were now in opposition. The former was 1/3 on Harding whilst Charlotte Benstead's Live Wire was at 3's ridden by the owner. Jump racing debutante (Mick Sheridan) was priced at 5's. It quickly became clear that a clear round was the priority for the latter. However the favourite quickly started jumping seriously to th e left - giving away at least a length, and frequently two, at each fence. Over nearly twenty jumps this was a sizable gift to the second favourite. Ironically, other than a couple of jumps where he put in a short stride Life Work was attacking his fences well, losing little speed whilst Chris was continually having to shift back up through the gears. Although Chris got the favourite back to within 5 lengths by the third last any chance he might have had were lost to jumps that threatened the ropes on the outside of the course.

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Year 2004 Fixture List