25 March 2009 Scene & Heard: Easton Harriers - High Easter
GO NORTH: under super-sub Joe Docker
"I've always been keen on two things - a horseman and a thinker. By that last, I mean a jockey, not a horse - I've had enough of those in my time!" Trainer Nibby Bloom sings the praises of super-sub Joe Docker, who again stood in successfully for James Owen on Men's Open winner Go North.
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Go North's stable companion Bunratty's Sole (Gina Andrews) just failed to peg back Louise Allan and Full Irish in the Ladies' Open. "We got caught close home on this course last year, so I was determined not to let it happen again," said Louise. Owner Joe Turner's daughter-in-law Rose was persuaded by her son Ed to collect the trophy - "As it's Mothering Sunday he thought he'd give me a treat," she laughed.
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Alice Vaughan-Jones and Gary Luck, whose Sunyblaze won the Restricted at the corresponding meeting in 2008, retained the cup courtesy of Lord Of The Knar, partnered by Alice's son Alex. The chestnut is trained by Gerald Bailey, whose wife Caroline sustained arm and shoulder damage when one of their other runners went berserk while being saddled on the lorry and lashed out violently. "There was no way I could get away, and I honestly thought it was going to kill me," admitted Caroline, "so I've been very lucky."
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A Vaughan-Jones family double was just foiled when Tribal Venture got the better of Sam Vaughan-Jones's mount The Fairhill Boy in the Dodson & Horrell Novice Riders' contest. The grey's victory, his third of the season, took his partner, Sibford [Banbury] schoolboy Olly Murphy, 17, to the head of the Harley Racing Novice championship table. "I am a pathetic mother," sighed Anabel King, who trains Tribal Venture for her husband, bloodstock agent Aiden Murphy. "He's jumped 100 fences and I haven't seen him jump one!"
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If the behaviour of one owner is anything to go by, there should be no shortage of bookmakers willing to stand at East Anglian meetings in the future. When he went to collect his winnings, he discovered that some punters had only managed to get 3-1, whereas he had backed the horse at 12-1. "I felt really guilty," he said, "so I gave some of the money back."!!!
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"He did three double back flips and a full pike." Matt Smith describes the paddock antics of his Maiden mount The Legal Limit.
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The Maiden Division One winner Jack Ford was originally bought as a side-saddle horse for trainer John Ibbott's wife Melanie. Four from home he had looked the least likely winner out of the leading group of five, but came with a strong run under Harry Fowler to get up on the run-in. "Never give up - I took a leaf out of McCoy's book there," grinned Harry, whose mount will undergo a wind operation at the end of the season.
John and Harry's fortunes nosedived, literally, in Division Two when Ciderlay fell at the fourth. The horse escaped the confines of the course and was recaptured about two miles away.
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Division Two went to Patrick Millington on his Rules Apply. "Apparently he never had his ground under Rules," said Patrick, "but I didn't know what he was meant to like anyway."
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46-year-old property developer Bill Poulson, who lives just a few miles from the track, made a winning debut in the Hunts' Club Members on his Sha Bihan, trained for him by Chris Lawson. "I knew the horse would jump round, but it was just a question of whether Bill fell off or not," said Chris. "I told him to sit there, point the horse at the middle of the fence, and hold on!" Sha Bihan's immaculate racecourse demeanour is in sharp contrast to his behaviour at home. "He won't go out on his own," explained Chris. "You can kick, shove, pull and push, and he still won't move."
