REVIEW
FERNIE DINGLEY
Sunday 7th May 2006
by Ian Marshall
Fernie Gold Cup day is always a big
occasion and there was a massive crowd in attendance to see some
outstanding performers on show. Extensive watering, coupled with
overnight rain, left the course in supreme condition and going that
was officially Good, Good to Soft in Places allowed horses to make
a healthy hoofprint. Nice, inviting fences, which need jumping
nonetheless, are widely appreciated and trainers understandably
have no concerns about introducing newcomers here. As befitting a
meeting such as this, there was an excellent race commentator in
Mark Johnson.
There were four runners in the Hunt race,
three of which were owned and trained by Patrick Millington.
However, it was the other participant, Fami, that came home in
front at his leisure by 20 lengths in the hands of Gemma
Hutchinson. Owned by her mother and trained by her father, Fami was
winning this race for the second year in a row. Fami also had the
misfortune to give Gemma a terrible fall at Garthorpe last year,
but she has recovered from her serious injuries and returned as
good as ever. Judge Reilly, partnered by his owner, was second and
Mount Kimble (Rowan Cope) third. Donrico was fourth.
The Confined was an intriguing contest and
there were four last time out winners among the 12-strong line-up.
Teeton Glaive was one of these and she was hugely impressive in
racking up a four-timer. She might be 11, but is still on a steady
upward curve and made light of a six pound penalty to move on to
eight wins in total in points. Victories in 2006 at Mollington,
Garthorpe and now twice at this venue have given her an enviable
reputation. Stuart Morris was the assured pilot and, once they took
the lead having made stealthy headway on the final circuit, drew
right away for a clear cut triumph. In second were Ungaretti and
Sam Hutchinson. They were no match for the winner, but Ungaretti
kept boxing on and the pair are a useful combination. Third-placed
Moscow’s Return did most of the donkey work at the head of
affairs under Nick Pearce and, whilst his win ratio is poor, he
rarely puts in a tame effort. Fourth were The Stickler and Alex
Merriam, who are admirably consistent. At the age of seven, there
will be more to come from The Stickler. Parsonhumfrywebber lost
interest quickly, having been prominent to halfway.
15 horses faced the starter for the Confined
Maiden, which had a bunch finish. The Painkiller got off the mark
for the Bealby team, with Matt Briggs doing the steering. The
Painkiller’s initial outing at the Easter fixture had been
full of encouragement and the five-year-old showed today that the
experience had done him no harm. He has a bright future ahead of
him and might next head to Doncaster Sales. Arctic Summer was
guided into second yet again by Jon Trice-Rolph. This horse
can’t be written off, although a record of 24 starts without
a win tells its own story. The one to take out of the race could be
Teeton Bollinger in third. He made a horlicks of the penultimate
obstacle, which rider Dickie Barrett did well to survive. Teeton
Bollinger had loomed up dangerously at the time, but the blunder
cost him any chance of victory on his debut and owner Joan Tice
looks to have another fine recruit on her hands. Miss Bobsleigh
(Stuart Morris) in fourth is coming on. Dromin was putting in his
best work at the death. Jockey Rowan Cope deserves a medal for
perseverance as this fellow was driven along virtually from
flagfall, yet was as close as three lengths or so to the winner at
the line. Dromin’s usual blinkers had to be removed in the
paddock as they hadn’t been declared at declaration time.
French Bey was to the fore throughout, but could only run on at the
one pace in the home straight. Blazing Saddles did OK, but Fusion
Of Tunes failed to get competitive and the favourite Furze Hill
didn’t reach a challenging position.
A bumper field of 20, bang on the safety
limit, came under orders for the Fernie Gold Cup over four miles
and the honours headed up to Yorkshire via the scintillating mare
Duchess Account. She has guts and determination in abundance and
picked off her rivals one by one on the last lap, jumping the final
fence a length down before forging ahead on the run-in to register
her eighth victory in points. Astutely handled by Emma Brader,
Duchess Account stuck to the inside like a limpet, saving ground at
every corner. She is a true family horse for the Braders as she is
owned by Ralph, trained by Charles, prepared by Gilda, led up by
Charlotte and ridden by Emma. With no distance seeming too far for
the home bred, bookmakers were taking no chances, yet Duchess
Account still attracted support in to 5-4. El Lute made a bold bid
for glory under a positive ride from Richard Collinson. He might
have gone off at a fancy price, but this was no shock as stamina
has often appeared to be his forte. El Lute remains eligible for
restricteds and could find one on a long course. Trooper in third
has been sweetened up by the change of surroundings to Tony
Woodward. Trooper was called some names under Rules, but at least a
confined must surely be on the horizon as he has been knocking on
the door all year. Teeton Priceless (Sam Jones) was fourth and she
can add to her tally of seven wins between the flags. Splash And
Dash appeared to be a big danger coming down the hill, but he hit a
wall and might not have got home. Wonder Weasel wasn’t
disgraced and Cmewin stayed on past beaten horses.
14 runners went to post for the Restricted
and there was a popular winner in King Freddy under Peter Bennett.
This was a marked improvement on King Freddy’s previous
outing at Clifton. Velvet Skye and man of the moment Sam Jones were
second. It is difficult to quite know what to make of this race as
the runner-up had also been below par earlier in the campaign.
Third was Treble Trouble, with Patrick Millington in the saddle,
who faded from the final turn, having taken closer order down the
back stretch. Currow Kate (Oliver Marsh) was back in fourth. Teeton
Swansong beat a hasty retreat from the top of the hill and appeared
to be unsound afterwards. Maestro Please was never going and is
better than this.
The Open Maiden featured 13 runners and could
throw up a few useful types. Successful was Needs Time for Tim
Lane. Lady Connell’s youngster might still be backward, but
he certainly has an engine and was value for more than the winning
distance of 15 lengths as he lost a lot of ground running wide at
the last two bends. The grey is likely to be even better next year
with another summer on his back. Southern raiders from Sally
Alner’s stable filled second and third spots. Mrs
O’Connell (Ian Canin) in second hit the last couple of fences
or she would have been much nearer. She wasn’t given a hard
time once Needs Time had flown and made a very encouraging debut.
Mrs O’Connell caught the eye in the paddock as a decent sort
as well. In third was Bondsley (Josh Guerriero), who received
plenty of support in the ring on the back of his recent second at
Littlewindsor. However, his jumping went to pieces and he could
never get in a blow at the winner. Bold Jogger (James Owen) in
fourth did all right. Ballynonty was close enough if good enough
when he rooted four out and was nursed home from that point. A bad
mistake knocked the stuffing out of Miss Trooper.
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