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MONKERTY TUNKERTY: All roads lead to Cheltenham for the Foxhunter and AGA final hopeful
photo: Tim Holt

Monkerty Tunkerty caused something of an upset in the AGA Ladies' Open Point-to-Point Championship qualifier at Wadebridge on Sunday January 8th by comprehensively beating the odds-on Sericina under a positive ride from 20-year-old Jess Westwood.

Jess dropped her whip after the last, but would have had no recourse to it in any case as her mount galloped willingly up the run-in. It was a third course success for the nine-year-old, who landed the Novice Riders' contest four weeks earlier.

"This was moving up a step," said Jess's father Andrew. "We asked the question and he's answered it."

All Jess's four victories have come on Monkerty Tunkerty, who she considers to have been well named. "He is a real monkey," she smiled. "It takes half an hour to get him out of the yard, and he's not good on the road. We've started calling him Diamond Geezer because he bit the diamond out of my mother's ring!"

Jess, who works for trainer Jeremy Scott, is now hoping for another win which will qualify Monkerty Tunkerty for the Cheltenham Foxhunters, with the AGA final a target beyond that. There were no excuses from Chloe Roddick, who had taken Sericina to Larkhill the previous day but had to withdraw her due to the ground, which saw several horses finish lame. "I think we were beaten by a very good horse," was Chloe's belief.

Race winner Jess Westwood was filmed after the race being interviewed by respected point-to-point photographer John Beasley. The video can be viewed online at http://www.agaliving.com/aga-living/aga-point-to-point.aspx

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