The Midlands Area Point-to-Point season continued on Sunday 26th January, when the Midlands Area Club held their annual fixture at Thorpe Lodge near Newark. A good crowd defied the poor weather forecast to enjoy a six-race card. The highlight of the fixture was a treble for Jack Andrews, extending his lead in the Midlands Leading Rider table after two meetings.
Tom Ellis and his team are big supporters of pointing nationwide and in the Midlands area. This meeting was no exception, with the Warwickshire team entering horses in every race. They were rewarded with victory in the feature race of the day – the Mike Chatterton and Billy Foulkes Mixed Open – where King of The Clothe and Jack Andrews (pictured) saw off strong opposition to win for The Oak Partnership. Despite the onset of steady rain on the already soft ground, King of The Clothe clearly benefited from his first run of the season, at Larkhill, which set him up for a competitive run here.
Andrews had opened his account in the first race of the day – the Southwell Racecourse Conditions race – in which he piloted Judy Wilson's Volnay de Thaix to Victory. This was a welcome return to the track for this Stuart Morris-trained horse, last seen in 2018. "He really prefers better ground than this, so I was relieved that he was able to come through this without any problems", Morris said. Jack Andrews added, "He felt great, despite the ground being hard work in places."
The Midlands Area Club Confined was won by Tom McClorey riding Early Retirement for the newly formed Hunting Partnership. Early Retirement was previously campaigned under Rules over both hurdles and fences before losing his way a little. "I have been hunting him with the Pytchley and it seems to have done him good," McClorey said. "It has sweetened him up nicely. We will have another one or two races under Point-to-Point rules to see how he gets on, with the possibility of a hunter chase later in the season."
Herefordshire-raider Sam Brown took the Midlands Keepers-sponsored Novice Riders Conditions race with Mr Potter's Don Bersy, trained by Ryan Potter. This was a second win from three starts so far this season for the horse, and a first for the jockey. "He's a really good horse, but can be a little tricky, so my tactics were to lead from the front and it paid off today," said Brown, who hopes to become a conditional jockey if all goes well.
Another win for the G & T Racing team followed when Dubai Quest was victorious in the Roade Fibres Restricted under Gina Andrews. The seven-year-old, another horse owned by the Oak Partnership, put their fall last time out behind them as they came home ten lengths clear of Dale Peters and Bonamargy.
The concluding Melton Mowbray Market Open Maiden gave Jack Andrews the final leg of his treble, on board Judy Wilson's Minella Wizard (see video above), a five-year-old with some decent Irish form, who was purchased at Doncaster Sales last year. "Of course he's still quite young but I feel quite excited by his potential, as it felt like there was plenty left at the end of that run," said Andrews.
Midlands Pointing now takes a short break before returning on 15th February for the Brocklesby meeting at Brocklesby Park. Discounted tickets are available until the end of January, when they will return to £13.