Dr Richard Newland continues his winning run at Worcester Racecourse

The Richard Newland success story with his horses at Worcester Racecourse continues. Going into last week’s meeting, the Grand National Winning Claines trainer had had 6 winners from just 13 runners this summer, and 21 winners at the course in the past 5 years.

Newland sent 2 horses to the meeting, both ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies who was having his first rides back after a short spell on the side lines with a collarbone injury.

Duke Street was having his first run over fences in the Worcester News beginners chase and managed a creditable third place, beaten only one and a half lengths by the 8/11 hot favourite, Wait for Me trained by Philip Hobbs.

Newland’s other runner was Vosne Romanee in the £20,000 feature race, the Sparkling Anja Potze Fine Jewellery handicap chase.  The versatile six-year old picked up well after the last and ran on to win his 9^th race for his trainer, previously scoring twice on the flat, 4 times over hurdles and twice over fences.

Top Irish jockey Bryan Cooper, until recently retained by Gigginstown Stud and now riding freelance, made his first visit to Worcester Racecourse last week.

Cooper partnered Guiding Stars for trainer, Harry Whittington in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce sponsored bumper.  Cooper, who won last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup aboard Don Cossack, gave Guiding Stars, a 16,000 Euro purchase as a 3-year old, a positive ride but was just touched off into second place by the 8/13 favourite, Hatcher, trained at Alcester by Dan Skelton.

The interesting upcoming horse of the day for me, was the well-bred, 4-year old Galileo gelding, Counter Shy who won the concluding 7bets4free.com maiden hurdle under a confident Richie McLernon ride.

Sent off at odds of 14/1, Counter Shy was kept up with the pace by McLernon and was seemingly undeterred by the thoroughly distracting antics of two very novicey horses ahead of him.

Counter Shy gave us a second link to the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the day, as his trainer, Jonjo O’Neill also trained his dam, Cross the Flags, a half-sister to the 2012 Gold Cup winner, Synchronised.

Current Worcester leading trainer, O’Neill invited me to his syndicate owners’ day at Jackdaws Castle last weekend.

Around 100 owners were treated to a champagne breakfast before visiting their horses in the yard and watching them work on the picturesque gallops, with far reaching views over the Cotswolds.

One of the challenges we face in racing is encouraging young people into the sport.  It was refreshing to see a group of 20 something year olds, enjoying the whole owners’ day experience, enthusiasm that I am sure they will transfer to the racecourse once their horse runs.

Tomorrow sees the annual Macmillan Cancer Support raceday at the course.  The popular coffee morning packages are now sold out but general entry tickets are still available on the gate and there are opportunities to support the charity fundraising in the marquee area, organised by the Ladies from Boots.

The gates open tomorrow from 12 noon.

Half way through the 2017 season at Pitchcroft

We certainly enjoyed the luck of the Irish at Pitchcroft’s Irish themed race meeting last week and were blessed with perfect weather for the occasion. Traditional music from the Emerald Isle courtesy of the Wild Murphys had everyone toe-tapping between races and contributed to a thoroughly good atmosphere created by the 2,500 racegoers who came out to support the course on a Tuesday evening.

On the track, it also paid to follow the Irish. 

Of the 7 winners, four horses were bred in Ireland, and one each in France, Germany and England. Aidan Coleman, originally from County Cork was on flying form notching a treble on the night, the first race for Lambourn trainer, Jamie Snowden and the last two for Jonjo O’Neill, who himself originates from Co Cork.

The local success was the one of the stories of the night. Claines trainer, Richard Newland has always been a great supporter of his local track and this summer has sent Slim Pickens to run here four times.  The horse has been with Newland since May 2014 and first won a novice hurdle at Worcester under Sam Twiston-Davies in June of that year.

From 17 races, the consistent gelding has won 4 times and finished second 6 times. In his 5 runs at Worcester, he has never been out of the first two. In the previous 3 runs this summer he has come up against one just too good for him but has battled all the way to the line.  Finally, last Tuesday was his day.  In another exciting finish, he was driven out to beat Martin Keighley’s Buckle Street by a neck under a confident ride from conditional jockey, Charlie Hammond.  Just one and three-quarter lengths separated the first four horses home.

Another Irish jockey, Daryl Jacob had his first official ride as stable jockey to Bourton-on-the-Water trainer, Ben Pauling aboard Calva D’Honore at the same meeting. However, the jockey’s winner on the night came aboard 11/10 favourite, Taws for Rod Millman in the mare’s maiden hurdle, another qualifying race for the 7bets4free.com Fixed Brush Hurdle Series final in October.

The summer is flying by as it always seems to and so are the race meetings.  We have reached the half way point in the season and it is therefore timely to look at the leading jockey and trainer championships, both of which are proving to be fiercely competitive.

Champion jockey Richard Johnson leads Aidan Coleman by just 12 points at the top of the Cheltenham and Three Counties Race Club sponsored table. There are only 6 points separating the next 3 places occupied by Sam Twiston-Davies, Noel Fehily and Harry Skelton.

Jonjo O’Neill leads Dan Skelton and Nicky Henderson, both tying for second place in the Foran sponsored trainer’s competition, ahead of Richard Newland. We look forward to seeing how the second half of the season unfolds.

The gates open for afternoon racing tomorrow at 11.50am.

Back to back meetings at Pitchcroft deliver results for local trainers

There has been plenty of action down at Pitchcroft recently, with 2 race meeting in just 4 days.

Despite Family Fun Sunday clashing with the well supported Olly Murs on stage at nearby Worcestershire County Cricket ground and Worcester University’s open day, over 4,000 people enjoyed the afternoon of National Hunt racing, interspersed with pony rides, mini quad bikes, inflatable fun and painted faces.

The local trainers didn’t disappoint. Three of the 7 winners included Murray Mount trained at Abberley by Henry Oliver, Sweeping Rock trained by John Spearing at the Fred Rimell’s former yard in Kinnersley, and the last race went the way of Included trained by David Dennis at Hanley Swan.

The big story of the afternoon came in the £18,000 feature handicap hurdle. A very competitive affair, the strongly fancied Philip Hobbs / Diana Whateley gelding, Wishfull Dreaming went off a clear favourite.  However, in the end, the first three horses home mirrored the exact same result of a similar contest earlier in the month on Ladies Day. 

Permit trainer, Rosemary Gasson was delighted to see Mr McGuiness get the better of Richard Newland’s Slim Pickens and Alan King’s Miss Crick for the second time at the course in just 3 weeks. Both Mr McGuiness and Slip Pickens hold entries for tomorrow’s Worcester meeting.

Three days later, we welcomed Britain’s Got Talent host, David Walliams to the racecourse for the first time, as guest speaker in the Birmingham City Football Club hospitality marquee.

The local success story continued at this meeting with new recruit to Richard Newland’s Claines yard, Theo storming up the home straight to win the shakespearestone.co.uk Conditional Jockeys Training Series Final Handicap Hurdle under Abberley jockey, Charlie Hammond.

Theo was purchased out of Shane Donohoe’s yard in Ireland recently, with only fair form and a bit of a ‘monkey’ reputation according to Newland’s assistant, Rod Trow. However, the 7-year old was on best behaviour, winning comfortably and seemingly relishing the change of scene, as further borne out by his Uttoxeter win on Sunday.

Roger Hart is very well known at Worcester and on the wider racing circuit as a tipster, Corporate raceday host and an organiser of ownership syndicates. He is less well known as an owner.  However, when Fort Worth trained by Jonjo O’Neill won on the bridle last week under a cool Aidan Coleman ride, a very excited Hart whooped his way across the parade ring to greet his winner.

Fort Worth was bought by O’Neill from Coolmore originally, and has run for O’Neil under different ownership until recently when Hart and 3 friends purchased the Presenting gelding, who jumped and stayed on impressively.

Hart tells the story that the ownership under which Fort Worth now runs, Sleeping Panther Racing, took its name from the many sleeping panther statues that can be seen on the streets of ‘Panther City’ as Fort Worth in Texas is nicknamed.

With Nicky Henderson on flying form last week, posting a treble and a third from his 4 runners, we look forward to the stories from tomorrow’s meeting, due off at 2.20pm.

Skelton starts the summer jumps season with a double at the Season Opener

The future of our sport depends, like most sports, on securing the engagement of the younger generation. There are a number of initiatives in racing to entice the young to get involved, from accompanied under 18’s being admitted free, to student discounts.  

The support from the Worcester University students at Pitchcroft last week was extremely encouraging to see and we hope that some will venture down again, hopefully sparking an interest in racing that could well span many years.

The Worcester leading trainer contest of 2016 was a very close run thing, concluding on the final day of the season when Neil Mulholland just pipped Phillip Hobbs and Dan Skelton by a mere couple of points to take the title.

The 2017 trainer competition has started competitively, with both Jonjo O’Neill and Dan Skelton hitting the ground running with 3 winners and 2 seconds between them.

Skelton, who trains locally at Alcester, sent out his well-bred, 5-year old mare, Whatzdjazz to win the 7bets4free.com Fixed Brush Hurdle Series mares maiden hurdle.

The race was the first qualifyer in the new series which culminates in a £25,000 final at Worcester in October, at which Skelton confirmed there was every possibility his mare would be aimed.  Whatzdjazz, who won her first outing in a Fakenham bumper in February found plenty on the run in to see off the challenges of Jonjo O’Neill’s 6/4 favourite, Big Penny, a £70,000 purchase last year as a 4-year old.

Skelton’s other winner on the card was Cobra De Mai, coming to Worcester off the back of his chasing debut win at Warwick 11 days previously.

Cobra De Mai is by Great Pretender, an increasingly popular sire and only one of two stallions by the legendary Kings Theatre available to national hunt breeders.

Alan Phillips, a local trainer based at Callow End, was delighted that his first runner of the new season was a winner at his nearby track. Lined With Silver was partnered to victory by popular weighing room joker and champion jockey in Jersey for the past 4 years, Mattie Batchelor.

Phillips rode 87 winners between 1993 and 2003 in point to points, hunter chases and novice chases, and took up training pointers in 2004.  In 2013, he took out a dual-purpose licence and now runs a small string of national hunt as well as flat horses.

We stage less ‘selling’ races than we used to these days.  Having said that, the race on last week’s card saw winning mare, Lakeshore Lady, in the Giant Bolster colours of Simon Hunt, auctioned after the race and bought by trainer Sheila Lewis from Brecon, for 4,400 guineas.

There was no success at the opening meeting for last season’s Worcester leading jockey, Richard Johnson, who was presented with a framed picture of one of his 2016 victories.  I am however certain that he will be on the score sheet in defence of his title very soon.

The gates open for racing at Pitchcroft tomorrow at 12 noon.