You may be able to take the boy out of Wales, but you can’t keep him there. Bradley Gibbs returned to his home turf on Sunday to reclaim his territory and did so in fine style taking four of the six races on offer allowing only Ben Bromley and Harriet Tudor to share a portion of the limelight...
It was a day of emotions all round; a return to the track for the gallant Frelia, a step back from the brink of possible retirement for the equally gallant Valtor, a horse with a broken leg returning to health and the winners enclosure, and a win for the landowner on what will be the final meeting held on the Vale of Glamorgan track.
The sun decided to bless the organisers of the meeting with its presence and with it brought a healthy crowd who were setting up picnics long before the first race. They quickly decided that they would be loyal to their long time favourite Frelia as they made her even money favourite for the first, the Owner Trainer Conditions race. The mare, who has visited Leading Light and just prior to penning this piece has been confirmed in foal, had been on her way to the paddocks but her co-owner and trainer David Gibbs wanted his charge to go out on top and in true Frelia fashion she obliged with Dr Des and Candy Burg filling the minor places. Setting off in determined fashion she emerged the twenty-length victor and will now go into her new career as a winner, which is nothing less that she deserves. Her race record is impressive with thirty-two starts between the flags; scooting eight wins, ten seconds and four thirds. Seldom out of the “paddock” the highlight of the mare’s career was her fifty-one-length victory in the Mares Hunter Chase at Cheltenham.
Valtor doesn’t hold a lengthy point to point record but the thirteen-year-old has amassed over four hundred and eighty thousand in prize money under rules proper and has successfully negotiated the Grand National. Phil Rowley and the Bromley’s had made their way to Wales with the thoughts of possibly calling time on the French bred’s career; however, his enthusiastic performance to claim the John Lovell Memorial Men’s Open under Ben Bromley has made that option be placed firmly back in the box. Despite being challenged approaching the last by LooksnowtlikeBrian who was carrying four pounds less in weight due to his jockey’s novice status the gelding held on by four lengths with the odds-on favourite Yeats Ace in third.
Ask Dai was side-lined for all of last year with a spiral fracture of his cannon bone and would have been destined for a career off the track had David Gibbs not bought the horse for himself and left him with son Bradley for his recovery. The seven-year-old, who is a full brother to Highway Jewel repaid his owner/trainers faith by scoring by the distance of the run in from Debacle in the Restricted race. With a dry forecast for the coming weeks the son of Ask will now be put away until next year.
There was a slight lull in the proceedings mid card as the Intermediate was claimed in a Walkover by Lessankhan for the Dunraven Stud of David Brace and Bradley Gibbs. But the crowd were quickly back in voice when Harriet Tudor scored her first win “proper” between the flags on the Ed Vaughan trained Galop du Bosc in the Ladies Open run-in memory of Perry Bedgood. The Tudor family have been part of Welsh racing for more years than they would care me to mention and with mother Judith on duty for the day taking declarations and Father Jonathan acting as Clerk of the Course this was a well-supported victory. The six-year-old French bred gelding appears to thrive on racing and has scored on three of his nine starts. Sharing joint favouritism with Robin de People the gelding survived a slight blunder at the second last causing his jockey to sit tight and ran out an eight-length victor over his co-favourite.
The final race of the day, the two-and-a-half-mile maiden saw Tudor Harris bow out as landowner of a point-to-point course when Theshoddytradesman claimed an eight-length victory for “The Shoddy Friends” of which Tudor is a syndicate member. Running in the Harris colours the six-year-old scored by eight lengths from Blackfyre with Fun de Nuit a further six lengths back in third. It was a fitting finale to racing at Redlands and the diligence and enthusiasm of Tudor and his wife Jan will be missed.
Three well contested pony races completed the day and as the evening fell so did the curtain on the South Wales meetings for this season.