The perfect ground at Badbury Rings drew horses, owners and riders from all over the country for the Countryside Alliance (Wessex) Club point-to-point. Many were paying their first visit to the popular Dorset course and it is highly likely that they will be returning at a later date. With much of the country waterlogged, the going was described by several riders as being just on the soft side of good and a fair test for horses and riders. Philip Rowley and Alex Edwards will certainly remember their first visit, as they secured a double with the runners they brought from Shropshire, as will Mickey Bowen with his Curious Carlos from Pembrokeshire, and closer to home there was a return to form of Master Baker in the Ladies’ Open.
Master Baker (pictured) turned a competitive Skinner's Ladies' Open into a procession and looks back to his best. Jo Supple was happy to track the leaders turning for home, but once she asked her mount for an effort, both Tom Barton and Zamparelli, who had been vying for the lead, had no more to give. Winning owner Jacqui McCullough was thrilled with her horse's win and hopes that he can resume a successful hunter chase campaign and take in the Newbury Hunter Chase at the end of March, a race he won last year.
The Wessex National Men's Open was won in good style by Champagne Lilly, ridden by Alex Edwards, from Three Faces West, ridden by Nathan Vergne. Making only her fifth appearance on a racecourse, her victory was rather a surprise to her trainer Philip Rowley, who was completing his double with this race. She is owned by Fanny Armitage from Oxfordshire and Mary Bathurst from Surrey, and bred by them from the mare Champagne Lil, who won a Bumper and three Hurdle races. A half-sister to the prolific Champagne At Tara, she is one to follow as the season progresses.
Alex Edwards and Philip Rowley had started the day by winning the first division of the Conditions race with Undisputed, who stayed on well to beat Dr Rhythm, ridden by David Prichard, by just over a length. Not seen since the opening day of the season at Cottenham, Philip explained that there had been no particular problems with the mare but he wanted to find the right race where she was not carrying too much weight. The winner is owned by Tim Leadbeater, who is a solicitor for JCB but unfortunately was not able to be present to see his mare's victory.
Alex came very close to winning the second division when he partnered the Neil McLean-trained and John and Floss Symes-owned Sixteen Letters. Narrowly defeated at Milborne St Andrew, he once again went down, this time by a head in a duel with Curious Carlos, ridden by Byron Moorcroft. The Welsh raider, whose journey to Badbury took some five hours, is trained by Mickey Bowen, having previously in the care of Mickey's father, Peter. Bred by his owner Carl Pyne, he is already the winner of eight races under Rules and on this evidence showed he still retains ability. Byron admitted that his mount jumped himself to the front earlier than he planned, but he was just able to maintain his lead. A hunter chase may be next on the agenda for the winner.
The Novice Riders' race produced another easy winner in the shape of Master Dancer, ridden by Fergus Gillard and trained by Stuart Sampson. He drew right away from his 12 rivals to record a 17-length victory. Acquired from Tim Vaughan, who won three Flat races and two hurdles with him, he is now owned in partnership by Garth Whisker and Derek Prettyjohn, two of Stuart's neighbours. Although Fergus works full-time at David Pipe's stable, he does ride out at Stuart's when time permits.
Organised Solution, ridden by Milo Herbert, and Thechaseison, ridden by Martin McIntyre, had the finish of the first division of the Restricted to themselves, with the former staying on strongly to win by two-and-a-half lengths. Bought from Arthur Moore and trained by Nicky Sheppard at Ledbury for the Herbert family, he appreciated the going, which Nicky described as 'beautiful ground'. Although Nicky had been to Badbury before, when her son Stan rode in point-to-points, this was her first training success and 'worth the three-hour trip'. Nicky reported that Risk And Roll, Milo's other horse, is likely to next appear in a hunter chase at Taunton on Thursday.
Ryan Potter was another first-time visitor to Badbury and was able to return to his Ross-on-Wye stable with a winner after the success of No Limitations, ridden by Bradley Gibbs, in the second division of the Restricted. Ryan was quick to praise the efforts of Sam Brown, who has done much of the work with the gelding and has helped him become more confident with his jumping. Ryan hopes that his gelding continues to progress and identified the Intermediate Final at Cheltenham in May as being a long-term target.
The concluding Maiden was won by the five-year-old gelding Revels Hill, ridden by Freddie Procter, who stayed on well to beat Dawn Sunrise, ridden by George Hiscock, by seven lengths. Trained by Chris Barber and owned by The Glanvilles Partners, he was originally bought by Nick Mitchell at the Tattersalls Ireland sales in August 2018 for €11,000. After Nick handed in his training licence, the gelding returned back to The Glanvilles Stud run by Douglas Procter and then went into training with Chris this season. Freddie was recording his third career victory and his first win for his family.