19th February - Charing
South East Hunts Club
Next meeting
PREVIEW
The first South East meeting of 2017 takes place at Charing on 19th February and nearly all of the yards in the area have runners entered.
The races begin at noon with the 2m4f 4,5&6yo Maiden, which has a mixture of unraced youngsters, ex novice hurdlers and second season pointers. Those in the former category include the Rose Grissell trained Ballintara, a grandson of prolific point-to-point mare Nethertara and by sire of the moment, Getaway. Phil York runs One For Dodger, an unraced son of ex-South East mare Dizzy Massini, while Pete Bull may saddle The Real Scorpion for his first run. Those in the latter category should hold the advantage of experience and they include Fizzlestix, three times runner up last year and now trained by Petra New, Florabell, runner up in this race last year for Nick Pearce, and Ginuwinefizz, who hails from the in-form Tom Ellis stable.
The Restricted follows and consists of the plenty of the old favourites such as Did You Ever, Macdougal and Leafy Arbour. There are three horses entered who won last time out; Cornerman won first time out this season for Stuart Morris having failed to complete in three starts last season, Minmore Present won at Parham last season and is highly regarded by his trainer Nick Pearce, while West Lake was impressive at Horseheath and is on an upward curve. Two likely to trouble them are Letskeepit Simple, the 2016 South East Leading Horse who won his maiden at this meeting last season and Mere Detail, an Irish point-to-point winner who has placed on both starts this season.
The third race is the Shepherd Neame Gold Cup Mens Open and Glint Of Steel is the star entry. Successful in nine point-to-points and a hunter chase there is a feeling the fragile eleven-year-old has yet to have his ability truly tested and hopefully Sunday will be the start of a trouble-free season. His biggest danger could be Premier Portrait, who has won ten point-to-points in the past 15 months, but has been outpaced on his last two runs. Conkies Lad was successful in the Ladies Open here last season when giving Izzie Marshall her first win, but he could be reunited with Izzie’s brother Charlie in this race, after the pair teamed up to win twice in 2015. Brenda Ansell’s Crazy Eyes put some indifferent form behind him when winning at Parham last season and he could give Steve Spice a first ride back since 2013, but Steve could also partner stablemate The Admiral Benbow, a three time winner for Andrew Pennock last season. Rose Grissell has old favourites Time Is Tickin and Wor Rom entered while Nick Pearce may run new recruit Murrayana, a well bred seven-year-old who was highly rated when trained by Colin Tizzard.
The Ladies Open is headed by the Tom Ellis trained Vedettariat, an ex-Willie Mullins eight-year-old who won at Chaddesley Corbett before running Top Smart to half a length at Horseheath despite some slow jumping. Wor Rom and Kimora were both behind Vedettariat that day while Probably George was unplaced in the preceding Novice Riders race. An interesting entry is Atlantic Roller, who has placed ten times under rules but only won once, while Green Bank may have a bit more competition than he found at Higham when winning a three runner Mens Open.
The 2m4f Club Members boasts the biggest entry and includes the consistent but frustrating De Clare Man, course winner Gamato and the Alan Hill trained Horizontal Speed, who narrowly failed to win a competitive Novice Riders race at Larkhill. Other exciting entries are Mr Raj, who gave Shane Roche his first winner of the season at Higham three weeks ago, and Never Complain, who like De Clare Man is super consistent but struggles to get his head in front. An interesting entry is the strong stayer Total Compliance, who recorded his third victory at Horseheath a fortnight ago and has been pencilled in for the Intermediate Final at Cheltenham.
The three mile maiden caps off the meeting and should be worth sticking around for. Several of the horses are also entered in the opening race, but those that aren’t include Hannah Jones’ Brogeen Boy, who has placed second in all five runs when completing, De Pilgram, who was a staying on second last time out, ex-Nick Gifford trained Stars Royale for Cynthia Woods and the very interesting Surging Seas for Philip Hall.
REVIEW
An unseasonably warm day at Charing encouraged a real feel-good factor to proceedings on Sunday, as the South East season kicked off in fine style. The dramatic opening 2m4f Maiden race went out of the area after Petra New’s Fizzlestix fell two out and brought Nick Pearce’s Roll The Dice, the 9/4 favourite, to a standstill. The race was then won by debutant Captain Simon, who was chased home by Pete Bull’s debutant The Real Scorpion.
The Restricted finally saw Letskeepit Simple score his second career win, twelve months on from scoring his first. The Ian Cobb trained seven-year-old placed consistently last season but kept finding one too good at Restricted level. The win also gave Charlie Marshall his first for the season.
Charlie came within inches of making it a quick-fire double in the following Mens Open, but Conkies Lad wilted late on and was bared down upon by Nick Pearce’s Murryana and Rose Grissell’s Crack Of Thunder. It was Murryana who got up to win, giving Nick some consolation after Roll The Dice’s luckless run.
The Ladies Open saw Vedettariat go off as the odds-on favourite and he had no trouble justifying those odds, as Gina Andrews guided him to beat Hannah Jones’s Probably George into second place.
The 2m4f Club Members Conditions provided possibly the finish of the afternoon, as Never Complain and Horizontal Speed went head-to-head. Never Complain looked to hold the upper-hand, but a stylish Gareth Henderson willed Horizontal Speed to join his rival on the line. After a short delay the result was called as a dead-heat, which produced heart-warming seasons as each set of connections celebrated together.
The concluding Open Maiden was possibly even more dramatic than the first race, as Stars Royale suffered a crashing fall at the third last when leading by five lengths. This left Nick Pearce’s Florabell in the lead, but she was mown down by Phil Hall on Surging Seas. After the race Phil announced it was to be his final winner and his final ride, hanging up his boots after twenty-six seasons in the saddle.
RESULTS
12.00 2m4f 4,5&6yo SEHC Maiden
1. CAPTAIN SIMON Jack Andrews (Francesca Nimmo)
2. THE REAL SCORPION Peter Bull (Peter Bull)
3. HIDDEN DRIFTER Eoin Linehan (Elizabeth Lawson)
4. ONE FOR DODGER Chris Dennington (Karen York)
U. ROLL OF THE DICE Sam Davies-Thomas (Nick Pearce)
F. FIZZLESTIX Shane Roche (Petra New)
F. BALLINTARA Oz Wedmore (Rose Grissell)
P. FELLA Phil York (David Phelan)
Distances: 5l, runin, 10l
Time: 5mins 14s
Winning Owner: Francesca Nimmo & Charlie Poste
12.35 SEHC Restricted
1. LETSKEEPIT SIMPLE Charlie Marshall (Ian Cobb)
2. LEAFY ARBOUR Oli Mills (Karen York)
3. CORNERMAN Jack Andrews (Stuart Morris)
4. MACDOUGAL Will Hickman (Pam Tetley)
5. WEST LAKE Shane Roche (David Phelan)
P. FRESH’S FEVER Chris Pendry (Catriona Kerruish)
P. DID YOU EVER Eoin Linehan (Elizabeth Lawson)
Distances: 8l, 3l, 1/2l, 1/2l
Time: 6mins 19s
Winning Owner: Michael Deasley
13.10 Mens Open
1. MURRYANA Sam Davies-Thomas (Nick Pearce)
2. CONKIES LAD Charlie Marshall (Charlotte Marshall)
3. CRACK OF THUNDER Shane Roche (Rose Grissell)
4. GLENQUEST Harry Chapman (Camilla Poulton)
5. THE ADMIRAL BENBOW Steve Spice (Brenda Ansell)
6. DUKE OF KENTFORD Stewart Wright (Sue Frazer)
P. TIME IS TICKIN Ollie Binks (Rose Grissell)
Distances: Hd, hd, 8l, 25l, 20l
Time: 6mins 25s
Winning Owner: Sam Painting
13.45 Ladies Open
1. VEDETTARIAT Gina Andrews (Tom Ellis)
2. PROBABLY GEORGE Hannah Jones (Hannah Jones)
3. CRAZY EYES Abbie Stevens (Brenda Ansell)
4. NOBLE COMMANDER Alyce Fisher (Alyce Fisher)
U. BRINGINTHEBRANSTON Fiona Dennington (Nigel Benstead)
Distances: 5l, 1fence, 5l
Time: 6mins 16s
Winning Owner: The Ellis, Andrews, J Docker and Wales Families.
14.20 2m4f Club Members Conditions
1. HORIZONTAL SPEED Gareth Henderson (Alan Hill)
1. NEVER COMPLAIN Charlie Marshall (Charlotte Marshall)
3. HONOURABLE EXIT Phil York (Lucie Varnham)
4. ROCKY ISLAND Shane Roche (Linda Pile)
5. SEVENTH HUSSAR Ella Gillings (Andrew Coveney)
6. KAYBEEW Stewart Wright (Sue Frazer)
1. NEVER COMPLAIN Charlie Marshall (Charlotte Marshall)
3. HONOURABLE EXIT Phil York (Lucie Varnham)
4. ROCKY ISLAND Shane Roche (Linda Pile)
5. SEVENTH HUSSAR Ella Gillings (Andrew Coveney)
6. KAYBEEW Stewart Wright (Sue Frazer)
P. UNWANTED GIFT Oli Mills (Catriona Kerruish)
P. OSCAR BABY Jack Andrews (Rose Grissell)
U. LUCKY PRINCE Miss C. Baker (Lucy Khan)
Distances: Deadheat, 15l, 15l, 5l, runin
Time: 4mins 56s
Winning Owners: Graham Henderson (Horizontal Speed) & The Glebe House Racing Club (Never Complain)
14.55 Open Maiden
1. SURGING SEAS Phil Hall (Phil Hall)
2. FLORABELL Sam Davies-Thomas (Nick Pearce)
3. RAINBOW STRIPES Charlie Marshall (Ian Cobb)
F. IDIDANDIDIDNT Eoin Linehan (Elizabeth Lawson)
F. SEA SERPENT Shane Roche (David Phelan)
F. TEETON TURNIP Jack Andrews (Stuart Morris)
F. STARS ROYALE Phil York (Cynthia Haydon)
F. DCCOVI Steve Spice (Brenda Ansell)
P. DE PILGRAM Gina Andrews (Tom Ellis)
P. SIR REECER Chris Pendry (Catriona Kerruish)
Distances: 5l, 4l
Time: 6mins 24s
Winning Owner: Miss Alice Cooper