19 April 2011 Report: Cotswold Vale Farmers - Andoversford
by Pete Mansell
The Cotswold Vale Members race will always be a day to remember for 37-year-old Tim Cox from Chavenage, near Tetbury.
After gaining experience with David Nicholson and Paul Nicholls, Tim has been training Pointers for the last 5 years. His enthusiasm and commitment to the sport is infectious and he even works part time in his local supermarket and a bookmakers on Saturday to supplement his passion for Point-to-Pointing. This hard work and dedication paid off as his charge Tuesdays Child was installed as favourite for the Hunt Members race, and that support proved well founded as Mark Wall bounced the 12-year-old away from the start. They never saw another rival for the remainder of the contest and strode clear up the final hill for a 30-length success.
Fergal O'Brien has his team in great form and a Saturday double was followed by two more winners 24 hours later (one at Bitterley and another at Andoversford).
The first came when Nenthorne, who had disputed the lead over the first three fences burst clear of the field to claim the Maiden by a distance. The six-year-old started as the outsider of four, but favourite backers soon knew their fate; the favourite Rockonjohn was clearly unhappy on the ground, being pulled up soon after halfway. Mark Wall moved Panicmadic into a challenging position over the final two downhill fences and the mare looked a big danger meeting rising ground, but Nenthorne soon lengthened his stride and was a distance clear as they passed the judge.
The winner carries the colours of the rider's mother Angela, who bought the horse cheaply at Doncaster Sales in 2010 out of Mark Rimell's stable.
The Club Members resulted in a walkover for Craven and this provided a ‘first success' for 16-year-old Chipping Campden schoolboy Rollo Deutsch.
Two horses lined up for the Mens Open, with Charlie Dando partnering Itsalf while 17-year-old Alan Bradley had his first ride on Fergals Find. The latter acquitted himself well but the partnership was comprehensively out-pointed by the winner. The odds on favourite led from the start and was a sight to behold as he flew over the downhill fences in the back straight, a fact which prompted co-owner John De Lisle Wells to question the jockey afterwards, asking ‘were you trying to break the track record?' The horse is co-owned by the meeting's Clerk of the course David Morgan, while the training duties are carried out by Catherine Houldsworth near Andoversford. Morgan is host at the Golden Heart at Nettleton Bottom so no doubt celebrations continued long into the evening.
