The rescheduled Glamorgan meeting took place under clear skies and sunshine with a bumper crowd in attendance.
The day started quietly with the Hunt Members contest which resulted in a walkover for Ellie Williams and Voodoo Doll. Whilst it was rewarding for Voodoo Doll’s owners to receive the trophy and monetary rewards, for Ellie this was a hollow victory as walkovers can no longer be included in any winning ride tallies for awards.
Racing proper got under way in the second race on the card the Maiden race for horses six years old and over. This saw an emphatic victory for the giant Riteplaceritetime for David and Bradley Gibbs. The son of Norse Dancer started as the 6/4 favourite and justified that favouritism winning by the official distance of the run in. The six-year-old was purchased from Ireland via Jimmy Kelly who has been the source of many notable performers including Premier Magic; and carried the colours of Glenn Fortt. The same colours were taken to success by the popular mare Frelia who currently has a foal at foot by Leading Light. Riteplaceritetime has some notable shoes to fill as her replacement but seems to be more than suited to the task.
The Intermediate race was taken by the late challenging Kauto No Risk who had not been seen since winning at Howick back in March. Trainer Joanne Priest has been patient with this gelding and given him plenty of time to develop. The gelding is the “nephew” of the great Kauto Star and ability seems to run in the family. High hopes were held for Springtown Sal who led until the final flight hoping to score a victory for landowner Tudor Harris, but the testing ground got the better of the mare and she was defeated by a mere half a length in the shadow of the post. Hung Jury and Amber Jackson-Fennell mounted a challenge but finished a length behind in third.
The Ineos Grenadier Mixed Open saw Looksnowtlikebrian make amends for his decanting of Bradley Gibbs at the same track two weeks previous by winning the race eighteen lengths clear under Oisian Radford. “Brian” had also scored at the Cothelstone meeting the previous Wednesday making that two wins in one week, reminiscent of the older days of point to pointing when, due to the short season, horses turned out week after week. Owner David Brace was out of the country so unable to collect the trophy. This was Oisian’s third winner of the season having been side-lined for some time following a fall at Lydstep.
Carys Morris and M’Lady May took the Restricted contest by five lengths from Get Bye and Amber Jackson-Fennell who yet again filled the runner up slot. This was the jockey’s fourth winner between the flags. On her previous outing she had finished ahead of Riteplaceritetime at the same track. Caveat Emptor filled the remaining placing.
The Four- and Five-year-old maiden race saw James King add his name to the winning scoreboard with a two-length victory on Bodybuilder. This was only the second time the Nutan gelding had been to the track, and he had made the journey from the Worcestershire country to compete. Amber Jackson-Fennell was besieged by seconditis on the day finishing in second spot yet again on Quickcharge. The even money favourite Shadow’s finished back in third having struggled in the testing ground.
The day finished with a Point-to-Point Bumper (flat) race for four- and five-year-olds. This time it was Will Biddick’s turn to get his name on the scoreboard on Old Gold for the Old Gold Racing Syndicate. This was the son of Blue Bresil’s first race. The Northernlights, another first timer, finished in second with Zenner Park for Cath Williams back in third. An interesting fact to come out of this contest is that seven of the nine runners were not from the Wales Area but had travelled in search of such a race. A pointer perhaps that more of these races could be held in the Welsh region to draw supporters in.