And there we have it ladies and gentlemen; Tregaron 2013 is over for
another year. The August meeting at Tregaron is, for most people, the
pinnacle of the British and Irish harness racing season. It has fallen
foul of the inclement weather in recent years, with the feature day
being cancelled two years ago following two days of racing and heavy
rain, and the whole meeting being abandoned last year and then relocated
to Amman Valley hard track in the neighbouring county.
Fortunately
for us all this summer has seen only a handful of meetings abandoned
(either due to bad weather or lack of entries), and there was never any
hint of doubt that racing would go ahead at Tregaron. Entries were down
on previous years and the meeting opened up to maidens and novices,
which played a massive part in the cancellation of the Monday meeting at
Ammanford which failed to attract enough runners. There were only four
heats of the Strata Florida handicap (the middle-grade handicap) and the
same for the Welsh Classic handicap (for the highest grade horses), and
rather loud whisperings that perhaps the meeting would have sufficed
with only two days racing. But less about that, and more about the
racing!
The Boss had entered our two for Ammanford so
therefore had nothing entered to run at Tregaron. He did however pick up
a drive on the Friday on a horse he steered to victory two seasons ago
at Pembridge Show, J J Matters; that day he followed up his victory in
the first race with another win in the second (on my mare), and it was
the second win that won the trophy for fastest division of Grade 0
(maiden) and Grade 1 (this was before the novice grade was
reintroduced). J J’s owner, Ashleigh, still begrudges me that half a
second difference that saw National Hunt jockey Richard Johnson present
me with the trophy! Unfortunately J J struggled having not raced before
this season and didn’t find himself in the mix at the finish line at
Tregaron.
I was on duty as clerk for the Smart one but
abandoned ship half way through the day to watch the racing with my
friend Emma and have a few drinks. We arranged a mini-tipster
competition whereby we picked a horse in each race that we thought would
win; the points system was 3 for a first, 2 for a second and 1 for a
third. The loser was to drink a shot of vodka after the last race (I was
confident that I was going to win as I can’t stand vodka). I’d opened
up a tidy lead by the time I came off duty but Emma clawed it back to be
only a couple of points behind me going into the final. To make things
more interesting we decided to bet our picks in the race – she bet Styx
Thunder to win and I bet Duggans Pride to come second. Fortunately for
us both we both picked up money! As scorekeeper she declared a draw and
that we both had to drink the vodka, so off we went with our winnings to
the bar. It’s only during the week since I’ve returned back to
civilisation that I’ve questioned whether or not it really was a draw.
Last week at the yard The Boss confirmed that I had actually won by one
point, but he suggested to Emma that she add an extra point to her score
and declare a draw. What hope is there for harness racing with such
crooks involved?!
My highlight on the Friday was seeing
Rhyds Destiny come back into blistering form to beat Brywinsmagicpotion
and returned British record holder Doonbeg in the Electric Mile. My
family’s two year old filly ran in the Junior Welsh Dragoness (a series
whereby foal owners pay subscription fees to entitle their horses to
race; payments are made when the horse is a foal, a yearling and a two
year old – even if
they don’t race at two the payments must be
continued to entitle them to race in the series at three and four).
Unfortunately she was drawn five on the gate and the driver pulled her
back to try and get in on the rail; the three fancied fillies had too
much of an advantage over her and even though she motored down the back
stretch on the second lap, she tripped and broke, only recovering enough
to come in fourth, some way behind the front three.
The
Saturday saw me dedicated to my role as clerk and it was a day for the
betting public, with favourite after favourite taking the spoils. Form
stood up and Infinatey, winner of the Spring Handicap final at Tregaron
in May, not only won his heat in style but also took the Welsh Classic
Final in the hands of Mick Lord. Infinatey is the second horse by
Anthony Fettah’s stallion Immortalized to win the Welsh Classic,
following in the footsteps of Immpartial who took the title the year
after winning the Strata Florida Handicap final. His brother, Im
Immpartial Too, ran on well in a maiden to finish second on the Friday
this year, and has shown great potential in the same way that his older
brother did at that age. A future big final winner in the making?
My
highlights on the Saturday included Kayleigh Evans’ face in the
Cardigan Bay Members Race as she passed the bell and could hear Baby
Rosa chasing her down on her outside – having made the running for the
first half a mile on her own horse Comply Or Die, Rhys Evans decided to
put her under pressure and despite looking quite cool, calm and
collected at the bell, a quick glance behind her told her she needed to
get her skates on! It was a real look of ‘oh hell’, followed by gritting
her teeth with determination and really getting on at her horse. Comply
Or Die and Kayleigh eventually finished runners up to Jamie Davies and
Lakeside Pan, with Rhys and Baby Rosa finishing in third. This, I have
been told by Kayleigh, will be her claim to fame – finishing ahead of
American import Baby Rosa with her own little horse! Lakeside Pan’s
victory was one of four wins for owner Ronnie John over the three days
with his Lakeside horses, an impressive feat by anyone’s standards.
I
resumed my clerking duties on the final day, only abandoning my post to
put money on my friend Rachel’s horse, Wellfield Ghost, on her behalf
in the final. He won his heat but only managed a fourth in the final of
the Cors Caron Cup, the handicap for the lowest grade horses entitled to
run in the heats and finals. The day was much like a normal Wales &
West meeting, with several local runners and a reduced crowd as many
had travelled back up north in preparation for the Brough meeting at
Appleby. I can’t say that there were many stand out moments on the day,
other than last year’s Strata Florida winner and the Musselburgh 2013
winner Springhill Alibi romping home in the Top Grade Stayers Handicap
off a 40 yard trail. The race was run over a mile and a half, so three
laps of the half mile track. Rocker appeared to give Alibi a ‘warm up’
lap, before sprinting down the home straight to challenge the leaders
after the first lap. He then settled for the second lap and took up the
running to win part way through the third. Emma, who knows more than me
as she is a driver, explained that Alibi would have sprinted down the
home straight early on, imitating the early speed behind the start car
in a mile race; the two laps following that would have played out in the
same style as a normal distance race and the horse would relax into his
rhythm, plus the driver would be well aware coming into the last
quarter as to how much horse he really had left. Essentially he drove
him for the last mile of the race as if it was a normal mile
race, having not been preceded by half a mile already. Whatever anybody
thinks about that tactic, or if that even was his tactic, it worked!
Tregaron
tends to mark the unofficial end of the season for us at the yard, and
we begin slowly unwinding and turning horses out for the autumn. With
Big Mac away ‘oop north’, there’s only two racehorses in the stables,
along with the invalids and Melinda who still needs to qualify. I’m away
to Morocco in a fortnight so will be missing the first meeting at
Almeley, and The Boss and Mrs B are away on a cruise around the Greek
islands at the end of September so will be missing any potential
meetings that are held at Ammanford (subject to entries). They may be
back in time for York sale, but just in case they’re not The Boss has
agreed to give me his chequebook with a blank signed cheque ready and
waiting. Alexander Camden will be coming to mid Wales at The Boss’
expense!
A quick note before I sign off – on Saturday
night in Aberystwyth (following the racing at Tregaron), I bumped into
the owner of The Fuffer Man. Still intrigued as to where his name came
from, I felt compelled to take the opportunity to ask him. I now know,
and I also know why The Fuffer Man’s half-brother is called Ook Whos
Coming. I have however been sworn to secrecy, and having already told
The Boss and Mrs B (and Wesley, who already partly knew), I am too
scared to tell anyone else in case the owners find out and hunt me down!
Besides, I like the idea that only a handful of people are involved in
this little ‘in joke’! What I can tell you is this though: as The Boss
didn’t ask what the horse’s stable name was, you will know that I
nicknamed him Derek (or Deckers) after one of his owners. I have now
been corrected by Mark, another of the owners, who told me that his
stable name is Philip, or Phil if you’re really close to him. I have
been informed that for the time being I am only allowed to call him
Philip. Oh, and there were reports of him chasing his tail as a
youngster in the field…
Over and out,
Sarah (#1 Groom)
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