20 April 2009 Scene & Heard: Sedgefield - Friday April 17th
Racegoers at Sedgefield could have been forgiven for thinking that the unsaddling enclosure after the Ron & Pat Crake's 30th Wedding Anniversary Hunter Chase bore a marked resemblance to a doctor's waiting room.
James Cookson, owner-trainer of the winner Craiglands, was walking with a stick following a hip replacement at the end of January, Nick Kent, who trains the runner-up Paradise Bay, broke his wrist in six places at Garthorpe three weeks previously and had his arm in a sling, while Clive Storey, trainer of third-placed Oh So Perky, is still off games after a spill at Corbridge on March 1st, in which he fractured ribs, punctured a lung and damaged his shoulder.
It was a first success under Rules for James, as it was for rider Jonathan Bewley, who himself was in the wars with a broken collarbone earlier in the season. "Lee Palin has been doing all the work while I've been grounded, but I'd rather ride them than watch them," admitted James.
Craiglands looked like throwing away his clear lead when he veered towards the paddock entrance on the run-in, but once past that point he ran on to record an easy victory. "He gives you everything, but his wind isn't good so he'd improve for an operation" said Jonathan, who is hoping to get his Category ‘B' licence in the summer.
