REVIEW
EAST CORNWALL FOXHOUNDS
GREAT TRETHEW
SUNDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2003
by Lee Glanville

The East Cornwall point to point at Great Trethew can be described as bumper in all ways – the car parks were full, race cards sold out and with 11 races, with organisers worried at one point that it wouldn’t all be completed in daylight hours!

If you had the stamina for it, there was good sport until the end – the highly regarded Manly Money taking the Restricted race under Christian Williams for trainer Richard Barber.

A feature of this season has been the high entries-to-runners ratio and that was certainly the case on the best ground Great Trethew has had for several years. The first maiden race split on declaration, the first division going to Richard Woollacott on Alan Walter’s Parte Prima who won convincingly in the best time of all the four maiden races. Walter is a loose-schooling guru, and those skills, combined with a spell show jumping, saw Parte Prima put last season‘s jumping errors behind him.  Les Jefford had ridden the horse into second at the North Cornwall but got off it here to partner Cillamon, a horse he trains himself. When the race split, Jefford won part two aboard Cillamon, the first foal of Henry Cole’s good NH mare Dubacilla.

Jefford almost doubled up in division two but had to settle for second on Josh Mor in a close finish, Northern Edition (Geoff Barfoot-Saunt) getting home ahead. Lucy Gardner was only a neck back in third. Division three went to Clare Heywood, who used to work for Martin Pipe,  on her own Imprevu, who used to be trained by Martin Pipe.  Clare bought the horse for £500 at Doncaster sales and it was her first winner.

County Derry had his last outing before the Cheltenham Foxhunters in the Land Rover  men’s open and the Jeremy Scott trained horse cruised to victory under Neil Harris.

There was first winner too for Chloe Roddick ,who works for Paul Nicholls, on Mister Benjamin in the ladies’ open, the horse providing the first leg of Richard Barber’s training double. Tabitha Cave, second in the ladies’, went one better in the first division of the confined maiden aboard Onmywayhome. Sarah Gaisford won the second division on Mike Weir’s Phar Afield. Weir is master of the Dartmoor Foxhounds and Phar Afield can be considered well qualified having done 20 days hunting on the moor this season.

That man David Pipe didn’t go home empty-handed – Legatus (Ashley Farrant) won the Newton Abbot Racecourse Intermediate.

The last three races were commentated on by Gordon Miller, who has been the announcer for the East Cornwall for many years. It was a successful debut and he will share the task with Bill Harper at the next Great Trethew meeting.

RESULTS:

Members’: 1, Fossy Bear, Sue Young; 2, Ross Poldark, T Dennis; 3, Moorland Rose, Dawn Mitchell. 5l, 8l, 6.48.

Open maiden (2 1/2 m, 5,6,7 year olds):
Division one part one: Parte Prima, R Woollacott; 2, Dizzy Lad, G Maundrell; 3, Brother Joseph, R Darke. 3l, 10, 5.39.
Part two: 1, Cillamon, L Jefford; 2, Quizzal, R Woollacott; 3, Virgos Bambinos, Polly Gundry.3l, dist, 5.44.

Division two: 1, Northern Edition, G Barfoot-Saunt; 2, 2, Josh Mor, L Jefford; 3, Going Solo, Lucy Gardner. 1 1/5l, nk, 5.40.

Land Rover Men’s open: 1, County Derry, N Harris; 2, Danny Doolittle, M Sweetland; 3, Doublet, D Edwards. 10l, 1/2l, 6.40.

Ladies’ open: 1, Mister Benjamin, Chloe Roddick; 2, Jentar Equlibra, Tabitha Cave; 3, Cherokee Run, Charlotte Tizzard. 7l, 1/2l, 6.40.

Confined Maiden Div one: 1, Onmywayhome, Tabitha Cave; 2, Lingering Fog, Mary McCarthy; 3, Wonderful World, N Harris. 8l, 1l, 6.53.

Division two; 1, Phar Afield, Sarah Gaisford; 2, Butler Did It, L Jefford; 3, Smokey Joe, T Dennis. 3l, 1/2l, 6.58.

Intermediate: 1, Legatus, A Farrant; 2, Bak On Board, Lucy Gardner; 3, Don Royal, N Harris. 6l, 1l, 6.44.

Restricted: 1, Manly Money, C Williams, 2, Henwyn, R Darke; 3, Kestick, Tabitha Cave. 3l, 1/2l, 6.51.