Young riders flying the flag for Wales in point-to-point races
What a season it has been for Welsh point-to-point riders! Pembrokeshire’s James Bowen recently rode himself into the record books when riding his 26th winner and breaking the British record for novice riders in record time. James and fellow west Wales riders Lorcan Williams and Ben Jones look like taking the first three top places in the national novice riders’ championship.
Another rider who has been making a name for himself this season is Llanharan’s Evan David, younger brother of Tom David who recently hung up his riding boots to become assistant trainer to Ben Pauling.
Evan, at the time of writing, has ridden 21 winners, most of them for trainer Andrew Pennock.
Andrew said: “Evan is quiet, sympathetic and quick to admit a mistake. Only good jockeys make mistakes – bad ones never do.
“When you consider that he’s had to get to know a lot of new horses and he’s been riding on tracks he’s never ridden on before, he’s done really well and he will be even better next season.”
Every weekend Evan, who works for Vale of Glamorgan trainer Tim Vaughan, drives to East Anglia to ride for Andrew Pennock, who is based at Timworth.
Evan was recently selected to represent Great Britain in the AngloIrish Challenge at Kingston Blount and the Great Britain team lost overall by 43 to Ireland’s 81 points.
It was at this meeting that the two supporting races provided 16-yearold James Bowen with a double on Flying Eagle and Tempelpirate.
And on May 27 James came in for a lot of praise after chalking up his first winner under Rules when landing the handicap hurdle race at Cartmel on Curious Carlos, trained by his father Peter Bowen.
At the recent Albrighton & Woodlands Point-To-Point Steeplechases at Chaddesley Corbett, Welsh racegoers had plenty to cheer about. Dewi Lewis’ Tinkers Hill Tommy, partnered by James Bowen, took the men’s open race in good style.
A six-year-old bay gelding, Tinkers Hill Tommy, who had finished second in the Dunraven Bowl Novices Hunter Chase at Chepstow earlier in the season, is qualified with the Tivyside and trained by former rider Bridget Lewis.
The ladies’ open race was won by Roger Willcox’s 10-year-old bay gelding Patricktom Boru, who is qualified with the Llangeinor Hunt and was ridden by Pembrokeshire’s Jodie Hughes, who is no stranger to this page.
A winner over hurdles and of a steeplechase, Patricktom Boru led from the 12th fence after taking over from the pacemaking Tiger Rag.
Cowbridge’s Byron Moorcroft, 36, has also had a good season. He took the restricted race on the six-yearold bay mare Massini’s Dream, owned by former Welsh champion rider Tim Jones and his friend John Rees and trained by Nick Williams at Ogmore-by-Sea.
And at Cothelstone 24 hours later, Byron, fast becoming the “elder statesman of Welsh point-to-pointing”, won the restricted on Tommy Faulkner’s seven-year-old bay gelding Robin’s Wager, who had lost his maiden tag at the Banwen meeting on May Day.
Robin’s Wager is trained by Kieron Price in the Rhondda and beat another Welsh point-to-pointer ,Simon Jones’ Cardinal Tom.
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