14 July 2010 Pointing stars to the fore at Southwell
by Carolyn Tanner
John Mathias, runner-up in the 2009/10 Men's Championship, recorded his first double under Rules at Southwell on Sunday.
Both winners, Misamon and Makena, are trained by John's boss Dai Rees, himself still involved in the amateur sport as an owner, and both had triumphed between the flags last season when in the care of Dai's head girl Kristal Harris.
It was a meeting which showed why Point-to-Pointing is such an outstanding nursery for National Hunt racing, and not only for horses, as all the winning riders and the majority of the successful trainers cut their teeth in the unpaid ranks.
Adam Wedge made the perfect start to his professional career with a winning debut in the Conditional Jockeys' Chase on Mutual Respect for his new yard, that of the 2002 Men's Point-to-Point champion Evan Williams. Adam was formerly based with Chris Bealby, and his ability had been remarked upon on several occasions by numerous pundits.
David Bass has been attracting favourable reviews since joining Nicky Henderson as a conditional, and he was in the winner's enclosure after scoring on To Arms for yet another handler who retains strong links with Pointing, Lawney Hill. David, who used to work for the late John Manners, won the 2007/8 Wilkinson Sword, as had John Mathias the previous season.
The remaining two races went to Tom Scudamore, who recorded his initial success on Grange Brake at Barbury in 1999, his first ride between the flags. "A young man of whom much more will be heard" was how he was described by Mackenzie & Selby in the 2000 Annual, a statement which has been vindicated many times over. Tom added another 15 Point-to-Point victories plus the 2000/1 Amateur jumps title before turning professional.
The first of his double was for one of the rising stars of the training ranks, the former Welsh champion Tim Vaughan, who rode 116 Pointing winners before hanging up his boots.
