South Midlands Area
Club
Tweseldown
Sunday 15th February 2009
by Simon McInnes
Photos by
Graftonwood
http://www.graftonwood.co.uk
At last Tweseldown manages to defy the
weather and stage a meeting. Obviously one of the main aims of a
Tweseldown review is to motivate Steven Astaire into a robust
rebuttal of one or two comments via the Jumping For Fun discussion
forum. So here goes. Firstly, nobody had the good grace to sit down
with the racecards and cross out 8th February and replace it with
15th February. That just shows no pride in the job. Secondly, the
grass was the wrong colour. It was all a pale, tired and
lackadaisical green, when the crowd needed a bright, stimulating
one. Frankly, we all despair for the future. On a more serious
note, the attendance was a touch on the thin side, augmented by
some late arrivals, and in the current financial climate, charging
£3 for a racecard with glossy cover that provides no
enhancement to it's overall functionality seems likely to
discourage sales. Finally, due to the depth of flooding, the tunnel
under the track was shut. This is a personal disaster, as I find
that there is no better way to put a losing bet out of your mind
than splash an innocent bystander and then blame a nearby
irritating child.
Surprisingly, given the lack of recent
meetings, field sizes were on the small side as well. Dividing the
open maiden in advance saw six of 23 and seven of 24 line up from
the original entries, when it might have been imagined that there
are hordes of maidens gagging for a run. On the other hand, having
two club members, the first open to all that have not won under
Rules except for hunter chases in the last couple of years, the
other also excluding open race winners, just seemed a convoluted
way of having two four runner races instead of one more appealing
one. As the latter race has a memorial trophy, that could be
awarded to the best finisher in a combined race that is yet to win
an open.
Going: Good (Soft places)
Race 1: PRCC Ltd Club Members
1: Back To Ben Alder 2: Maestro Please 3: Reviewer
Winner owned: Mr M Loggin & Mr M Blackford, trained: Sam
Loggin, ridden: Stuart Morris
Only four runners lined up, and the pace
was very sedate early on. This manner of running was bound to play
into the hands of once decent hurdler Back To Ben Alder, who found
sufficient of his youthful speed remained to become a strong weapon
and his vulnerability in stamina trivialised. As Maestro Please is
proven over further, even once Back To Ben Alder went three lengths
or so clear, he never quite shook off Maestro Please, who has been
second on both runs since he returned from missing last season. The
suspect nature of the form is in the effort of Reviewer, who was
dropping away after two miles, but snapped out of that flat spot
and instead of tailing off began inching into the lead, suggesting
that the two in front were not sprinting home.
Race 2: Retraining Of Racehorses Restricted
1: Mysaynoway 2: Glen Tulloch 3: Billie Bay
Winner owned: Tork Family, trained: Kevin Tork, ridden: Gordon
Gallagher
The official going was faster than anyone
might have expected, and that seemed to include both the crowd and
several riders in this race. Mysaynoway charged off in front as per
her norm, and when Glen Tulloch and Pretty Lady Rose joined her in
going twenty lengths clear, we all donned a Mr T mohican wig and
declared them crazy fools. How wrong we were! Pretty Lady Rose
weakened off of the front two, fading into obscurity, but
Mysaynoway and Glen Tulloch had a good old battle for the lead and
gave their all on the run-in, where the former secured a pillar to
post success. Neither was more obviously tired than normal for the
end of a Restricted. Favourite Cotton Bay led the complacent pack,
but did not even manage to hold on for third as Billie Bay - win
secured as sole finisher in a two runner race - appeared to excel
himself in winning the separate race for third. Thenford Ryde
appeared to be fairly fit but will no doubt have gained some
benefit for the run, ending up in a dead-heat for fourth with
Sideline Critic.
Race 3: Ramsay Health Men's Open
1: Armoury House 2: Cheyne 3: Mister Bertolli
Winner owned: Miss A Reed, trained: David Buckett, ridden: Tom
Ellis
A substandard looking open was brightened
up by 'did all he needed to' front running performance by Armoury
House - a low 80s rated chaser recently switched to pointing.
Limited opposition plus a win already this season led to Cheyne
being odds-on, but he sabotaged his chances with some laboured
jumping and could do no more than lumber along in the home
straight. The pair were miles clear of Mister Bertolli, who had
endured a similar drubbing on his seasonal return but seems to be
the sort that either needs a couple of runs to come good or prefers
the milder weather of late spring. There were plenty of entries
with decent form that may rue missing a weak opening - Chilling
Place, Kingscliff, Dantes Storm, Milesian King, We're Confused.
Indeed, we are.
Race 4: Vales Press Ltd Open Maiden, Div I
1: Little Fountain 2: Doug 3: Orient Legend
Winner owned: Mrs C Saunders, trained: Gerald Bailey, ridden:
Richard Barrett
Only six went to post, but they contrived
to serve up a cracking four way finish, and as they had all been
placed, often at venues that would be expected to stage decent
maidens, it might prove to have been a fair heat. Villa Mara made
the running early on, and then stuck with Little Fountain when he
took it up. The early leader, who has had a few chances and failed,
weakened around the last, and she was passed by Doug and Orient
Legend. Doug had stood out for fitness before the race, but a lack
of jumping fluency (no risk of falling, but ground often lost)
sapped at the energy margin and he could not get up to strongly
finishing Little Fountain - whose belated appearance in the parade
ring had prompted a flurry of betting activity and a price collapse
from 4/1 to 2/1. Strapping youngster Orient Legend had been
narrowly beaten over 2m 4f at Barbury last time, and three miles
with an uphill finish proved a little too taxing for him on this
occasion.
Race 5: SMAC Open Maiden, Div II
1: Isle Of Skye 2: Mooresini 3: Marsden Marksman
Winner owned: Mrs S Sutton, trained: K Smyly, ridden: Mark Wall
With the opposition appearing to be far less fearsome than she
would have had in the first division, Isle Of Skye opened her
account by dashing up a clear winner. For a long while it seemed
that Marsden Marksman was a serious threat, but when he needed to
hit a bullseye, he began to run more like the horse that had pulled
up on all three runs last season and not the one that had amazed us
for 2m 6f today. This allowed Mooresini to nab second right on the
line. Kanga Gold, who showed a modicum of promise in a couple of
runs last season, did not get involved seriously in the race, but
had he been asked to, his fitness would have let him
down.
Race 6: National Hunt Trainers Intermediate
1: Fox John & Master Alf 3: The Camerengo
Winner (Fox John) owned & trained: John Manners, ridden: David
Bass, (Master Alf) owned: The Bull Family, trained & ridden:
Peter Bull
Only five were declared, but it was a
competitive race, and the end result was a dead heat between the
prominently ridden Master Alf and Fox John, who adopted more
stealthy tactics. A spot survey found that there was an exact 50/50
split between racegoers over which horse that they felt had won,
but some pedantic statisticians would quibble the merits of a two
person sample. From the third last, the main duo went head to head,
and whilst neither ceded an inch, Peter Bull did lose his whip at
some point along the way, which may have made a difference,
irrespective of which of the surveyed people you are inclined to
trust. The leaders left The Camerengo - some decent efforts but
only one win - trailing in their wake.
Race 7: National Hunt Trainers Ladies' Open
1: Bedtime Boys 2: Manners 3: New Entic
Winner owned, trained & ridden: Holly Campbell
Another race that went the way of those
that were up with the pace, and it was very pleasing to watch
prolific winning twelve year old Bedtime Boys not just get the
dozen up but pound along the run-in with rare verve, as if he was
ready for another lap. In fact, Manners also saw out the last
furlong or so very well, just not as powerfully as the winner. New
Entic faded late on, but he has never been one to win trophies for
enthusiasm. There was a benefit in paddock watching jockeys for
this, as the rider of Touch Closer emerged wearing a thick coat
over her colours and generally giving the impression that she
thought involvement in this to be a really bad idea. After that,
Touch Closer, who was a legitimate contender on form, was one to be
wary of, and he was off the pace early, and just wandered home in
fourth, having never been asked to get competitive. On a similarly
surreal note, there seemed to be an extensive inquest into the run
of Ski. As she has had plenty of chances and has a 100% failure to
complete rate, refusing if the rider does not have the decency to
pull up, it is hard to imagine anything new was learned about her
today.
Race 8: Astaire & Partners Ltd Club
Members
1: East Lawyer 2: Ghonnywiththebowe 3: True Legend
Winner owned, trained & ridden: Lucy Cowen
It may only have had four runners, but the
last race served up quite an extraordinary finish. For reasons of
absent fitness, will or inclination to complete, none of the
quartet was an appealing betting option, and the prices bobbed up
and down like a gang of herons in an infinitely populated fish
pond. The battle for the win was being fought out by UK newcomer
Ghonnywiththebowe (won an Irish point and then lost the plot
completely) and True Legend (four wins in all but missed last
season, and two handlers in the paddock, plus signs of too much
nervous energy). Approaching the last, Ghonnywiththebowe put
himself in the driving seat, but suddenly it became clear that East
Lawyer was putting himself in the picture. He had been detached
from as early as the second fence, despite a slow pace, and was
hopelessly tailed off four from home. Somewhere in the cutting, he
livened his ideas up a bit, and decided belatedly to migrate from
non-trierdom to one of the least likely victories imagined. Two out
he was only slightly less adrift, but really flew home in the
straight, poking his head in front in the last yard or two. As far
as the future goes, East Lawyer (whose brief forays into the
limelight for Paul Nicholls were deemed by the race conditions to
be a distant irrelevance, a bit like the way the Antiguans regard
the cricket outfield) is unlikely to get away with this again, and
True Legend will be tuned better by the run.
