12 February 2008 East Essex - Marks Tey
Honourable Spider: may go head-to-head with Bon Accord
Bon Accord and Honourable Spider, two of the best Point-to-Pointers in the country, may go head-to-head in the Mens Open at the East Essex meeting at Marks Tey on Saturday.
Bon Accord increased his winning sequence to six at Ampton last month and, since he already has a Cheltenham Hunter Chase success to his name, looks an obvious candidate for next month's renewal of the Christie's Foxhunter.
Honourable Spider did not do himself justice when 13th in the 2007 Foxhunter but recently got back on the winning trail and should appreciate this stiff track. Other interesting candidates in a high quality 16-strong entry include Another Dude, a fast-finishing second at Higham last time out, and My Best Buddy, from the Gerald Bailey yard.
There are 21 engaged in the Ladies' equivalent but this does not look so competitive and may go to Va Vavoom, who should have come on for what was effectively his first start of the season when runner-up at Higham three weeks ago.
The meeting gets under way at noon with a high calibre Members' Race where there is a distinct possibility that all five entries will go to post. Baron Bernard won this when it was last contested in 2006 but will face stiff opposition from impressive Higham winner Rydal Park and the useful Royal Atalza.
The Maiden race is almost certain to split on the day as there are 41 entries and a maximum field size of 18. If not, there will be seven races, including a Connolly's Red Mills Intermediate, with the finale, a Countryside Alliance Novice Riders' Race, coming under orders at 3.30pm.
A total of 132 horses have been entered and the course, which owing to two abandonments (one for hard ground, the other for waterlogging) staged just one 30-runner fixture last term, is reported in excellent shape. The clay soil holds moisture well so, even if we have another dry week, the word ‘firm' is unlikely to appear in the going report.
The course is five miles west of Colchester near the junction of the A12 and the A120. It needs to be approached from the A12 westbound, taking the left turn signposted Easthorpe.
