21 April 2009 Report: Cotswold Vale Farmers - Andoversford
by Pete Mansell
"It's been a good weekend" quipped Naunton trainer Fergal O'Brien after he saddled two winners during Sundays Cotswold Vale Farmers meeting at Andoversford.
Angela Rucker teamed up with Barry and Jenny Barnes' Hambaphambili in the Ladies Open, but they looked in trouble at the bottom of the hill where they were trailing behind Ilongue, Metal Detector and Salinas.
Using all her experience Mrs Rucker took the racing line round the final bend to jump the last level with her rivals. No quarter was asked or given on the run in where the favourite gained the verdict by a head with a length between second and third.
At 15 years of age Gentle Rivage is just a year younger than his pilot Sam Twiston-Davies who guided the O'Brien runner to victory in the Mens Open. The favourite Itsalf was an early casualty race but the winner was always in the leading quartet and started to assert as the runners raced towards the 17th fence at the bottom of the hill.
They gained a 3-length advantage jumping this obstacle which had doubled by the time they approached the next obstacle. The winner had to be kept up to his work but had no difficulty maintaining his advantage in the home straight.
O'Brien recalled afterwards "Gentle Rivage joined Nigel's as a 4-year-old and I love this horse he just jumps and gallops and although he was off the bridle for a long way, he just keeps galloping".
This win provided Twiston-Davies with the second leg of a double which had been instigated earlier in the afternoon by Grenfells success in the Dodson and Horrell Club Members Race.
It was a good weekend for the Wintle family. After Adrian had ridden his 150th winner at Chaddesley the previous day, his elder sister Sally sent out her first winner from the family stables at Westbury on Severn when her daughter Laura had guided Noadibou to victory in the Restricted.
With the opposition showing signs of stress between the final two fences Miss Thomas produced her mount with a perfectly timed run to lead at the last. "I've had six races spread over 3 seasons and missed most of last year with a fractured vertebrae" she explained afterwards.
