We’re back!
We are delighted to be welcoming owners,
trainers and jockeys, our annual members and racegoers back to Pitchcroft
tomorrow for the start of what promises to be another action packed, National
Hunt racing season.
We are also looking forward to
welcoming students from Worcester University for our inaugural Student’s Day.
The course has wintered well,
having been blessed with a flood free spell. The turf has flourished and the staff have been able to concentrate on
what we do best – preparing for the season ahead.
In March, the Worcester annual
Members were invited to David Dennis’s yard at Hanley Swan. We were warmly welcomed by David, his wife
Kate and the yard’s Racing Club manager, Martin Higgs. The members turned out
in force and enjoyed watching horses working firstly on the round gallop, followed
by exercise in the equine pool. A tour of the highly impressive, new 50 stable
block was next on the agenda, and refreshments rounded off a fascinating and
enjoyable morning. Worcester is Dennis’s closest
course and we look forward to seeing some of the horses we met run at
Pitchcroft over the coming months.
We are excited to be announcing a
new hurdle series that will be run over the summer at Worcester, in conjunction
with our racecourse at Southwell. Generously sponsored by Malvern based 7bets4free.com, the Fixed Brush
Hurdle Series comprises 42 races, 28 qualifyers at Worcester and 13 at
Southwell, culminating in a £25,000 final at Worcester on 25th
October.
The races will be a combination
of juvenile, maiden and novice hurdles and the intention is to support horses
at the grass roots of the sport. Horses
finishing in the first 8 of the qualifying races will be eligible for the
final.
At the start of the season the
thought always crosses my mind as to which horse or horses will find Worcester
a springboard to the bigger National Hunt stage later in the year. Recently, Ballyandy was a case in point, and
the horse I shall remember from last season is Paul Nicholls’ San
Benedeto.
The horse won a 2m 4f, class 4
novice chase at Pitchcroft last June as a 5 year old. Finding his preferred 2
mile trip, he has progressed ever since culminating in a grade 1 novice chase
victory at the Grand National meeting at Aintree in April.
Most recently, he came a very
respectable third behind this year’s Cheltenham Festival Arkle winner, Altior
and the Queen Mother Champion Chase winner, Special Tiara at the concluding
2016/2017 jumps season meeting at Sandown.
He was beaten by just 12 and a half lengths. San Benedeto’s prize money earnings now total
an impressive £213,000 and his rating has gone up from 144 when he ran at
Worcester last summer, to 163.
At six day stage, there were 145
entries for tomorrow’s meeting. As the
gates open at 12.15pm and we welcome racegoers for what will be my 17th
season at the racecourse, I wonder which horse will go on to be the ‘San
Benedeto’ of this year?
