31 March 2009 Scene & Heard: United Pack - Brampton Bryan
ASTORMYDAYISCOMING: finally gets off the mark
Riders were unanimous in their praise for the excellent ground produced by Clerks of the Course Wayne Tuffin and Kelda Wood - comments ranged from "I can't fault it" to "I've never seen it in such good condition" - so it was fitting that Kelda herself saddled the 3m Maiden winner Astormydayiscoming.
"I had two ambitions at the start of the season - to get out of Novice Riders, and for him to win a race, so I've achieved both," laughed Kelda, who jocked herself off at the very last second in favour of Will Telfer. "I put my pelvis out at Garnons, and he's such a hard ride that I was persuaded to put someone else on," she explained.
Will was quick to concur with her sentiments. "He saves a fair bit for himself, and I was at him after three fences," he said, adding "I was glad to get a bit of air in when we pulled up!"
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Will was not the only substitute to benefit from a spare ride. Tom Weston, who four days earlier had successfully deputised for the sidelined Tom Oates in a Sedgefield Hunter Chase, took the Men's Open ride on Worship The Stars, whose regular partner Jeremy Mahot is not yet fit to resume after dislocating his shoulder. "We're good mates so he knows he'll get the rides back," grinned Tom, who received the supreme accolade from the Frenchman - "I couldn't have ridden it better myself!"
"I'd been hoping to run at Maisemore because he's a stone better going left-handed," said trainer Maz Scudamore, "but the ground was too firm." The grey's ultimate target is Stratford's pointtopoint.co.uk John Corbet Cup, although he is unlikely to run again this season if the ground remains dry.
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Female trainers were in the ascendancy, with ironically only the Ladies' Open going to a male handler. This was Steve Flook, who legged up Claire Allen to land the spoils with Grasp. "He's a nice ladies' horse, but he's going to Ascot Sales because I'm looking for a Hunter Chaser and he's not up to that," Steve said.
"I've never changed positions so much during a race," commented Claire, who wasn't the only one to be of the opinion that some riders were failing to keep their mounts straight.
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Overheard: "They only know one pace, and that's slow." A racegoer voices his dissatisfaction, and echoes the sentiments of many others, at the speed of the number board operators.
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Who said women were the weaker sex? Ran Morgan's retirement, announced at the start of the season, has lasted for less than half the campaign. "With the stress of childbirth [son Billy is now nearly a month old], the weight dropped off me, so I thought I might as well have another go," was his explanation!!
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Caroline Griffiths purchased the unraced Dream Article with the intention of selling him on, but after his victory in the 2m4f Maiden, in which he was in receipt of 21lbs from the pair who finished close behind him, she admitted that "someone needs to offer serious money" before she'll let him go. "The first time I sat on him I thought ‘this is special'," she said. "He always felt classy."
Dream Article, who was given a fine ride by Liam Payter, would have been ridden by Ben Poste, who fractured his back at Llanfrynach earlier in the season and was due to undergo another scan this week.
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Liam Payter was struggling for rides until recently - "I had 12 winners last season and I've had about 12 rides so far this one," he pointed out - but he made the most of his opportunities here, with the first leg of his double coming in the Confined on Upton Legend. Liam was booked for the ride on Wednesday night by trainer Sarah-Jayne Davies when the mare's usual pilot Jonathon Jarrett was committed to another meeting. Horse and rider, though, were no strangers to one another, having teamed up to win the Maiden at the corresponding fixture in 2007.
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Dave Mansell, who was tied with Thomas Greenall at the head of the championship table at the start of the day, took the outright lead again with a Restricted success on Mister Kay Bee. The eight-year-old joined Julie Houldey just three weeks ago "for a stiffer workout and some fine tuning," said an emotional Penny Probert, who had done all the work with him up to that time. "Hannah [Lewis] rode him really well, but he was tending to put the brakes on a bit, so he needed a bit of coaxing," Dave explained.
