31 March 2008 Monmouthshire - Llanvapley
Rhys Flint: has well and truly made his mark in his debut season
There are 188 entries for the Monmouthshire Hunt Steeplechases at Llanvapley, near Abergavenny, on Saturday (first race 2.00pm), and Lough Ennel, who won last year's Men's Open, and Fantastic Champion, who won the Ladies' equivalent, have both been entered for their respective races again.
There are eight down to run in the Members and, in the absence of David Richards's Euryalus - he is also down to run in the Men's Open in which he finished runner-up to Lough Ennel last year, Dawn Tranter's One For The Lads, who is trained by Adrian Wintle and already a winner this term, should get backers off to a good start.
There are 30 down to run in the Intermediate and the grey Tanmeya, who will be ridden by up and coming seventeen-year-old Tom David, has recent Glamorgan winner Bob Bites Back and Thomo, backed from 8-1 to 3-1 when losing his maiden tag at Howick, to beat.
Sixteen-year-old Rhys Flint from Porthcawl, who has taken the Point-to-Point world by storm, brought his season's tally of wins to a dozen last weekend and could ride either Bobosh or Iris's Prince in the Men's Open while the best of the other 22 entries appear to be Lough Ennel, Euryalus and Danbury.
In the Ladies' Open, for which there are 27 entries, Paul Nicholls's recent Lydstep winner Goblet of Fire could meet two past winners in Fantastic Champion and Step And Run.
Sams Lad, owned by Cardiff bookmaker John Lovell - the man who brought computerised betting to this country, and trained by Abbi Vaughan, is thought to be good enough to run under rules while others to note are Land Lord and Midnight Haze.
The Maiden race has been divided with 32 down to run in each division, and in the first division Sir Oscar, who has been knocking at the door, must have some sort of a chance and the same can be said about Jeanne Thomas's Scally's George in division two.
