Rider Jodie chasing her 80th win as she scoops ladies’ open
Pembrokeshire’s Jodie Hughes notched up her sixth win on Roger Willcox’s Patricktom Boru in the ladies’ open race at the recent Tredegar Farmers’ Hunt Point-To-Point Steeplechases at Lower Machen, where a huge crowd enjoyed some exciting racing.
Jodie, 34, made most of the running to score by four lengths from Aerlite Supreme, whose rider, Vale of Glamorgan’s Isabel Williams, 20, is leading Jodie in the race for the Welsh Ladies’ Championship.
Jodie told me: “Patricktom Boru is a little and tough, versatile horse. He’s very quick over his fences and he stays. He has won twice for me at Lower Machen, which is a testing track, and twice for me at the Banwen, which is a sharp, tight track. He’s one of my favourite horses, as he tries so hard for me.
“I’m just grateful to the Willcox family for the great wins we have shared.”
Likeable Jodie, one win short of her 80th, who has won the Welsh Ladies’ title four times, added “I had a slow start to the season with several of the Welsh fixtures being abandoned, but I still make the most of every opportunity I am given.”
She certainly does, and the plan is to go to Chaddesley Corbett at the end of the month and then go for the Ladies’ Hunter Chase Final at Stratford on June 8, where they finished a creditable second last year.
Isabel Williams, who is making a bold bid for the national novice riders’ championship, had an easy win on her father Evan Williams’ Burn Baby Byrne in the young horse maiden, after Tally Ho Doctor had fallen at the last fence.
However, Isabel’s mount looked to be going the better and would probably have won anyway.
There was a close finish to the men’s open race, in which the Michael Bowen-trained Kelsey, ridden by Peter Bryan, scored by a neck from the mare Frelia, who made a mistake at the penultimate fence which probably cost her the race.
Ben Jones, son of the almost legendary Dai Jones, took the opening Iwan Thomas Memorial Restricted race on The Casey Club’s Chasing Casey, who finished a length in front of stable companion She’s A Gangster, ridden by Cowbridge’s Byron Moorcroft.
Byron went one better in the next race, the Confined over two miles and four furlongs, when making every yard of the running on the Keiran Price-trained League Of His Own, which came home twelve lengths ahead of Minella Arts. Irishman Tommie O’Brien took the Open Maiden race on the odds-on Another Drama, which got home by half a length from Long Mile Road. Tinctoria, who finished third under Lorna Brooke, didn’t do herself any favours when making a mistake at the penultimate fence.
Two pony races were held after racing and both of them were won by Edward Vaughan, 10, son of Vale of Glamorgan trainer Tim Vaughan. Edward took the 138cms race on his nine-year-old mare Little Replacement and the 148cms race on his thirteen-year-old mare Peateaoh.
Edward, who was the youngest rider in both these races, brought his season’s total of wins to 14 and he was chalking up his second double of the season.
During the afternoon a presentation was made to your correspondent by Liz Egerton and William Tudor of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Area Point-To-Point Committee on behalf of the organisers, owners, trainers and jockeys on my retirement as the area’s PRO.
However, please keep watching this space, as I will be continuing, like I have for more than half a century, to inform you of what is going on in Welsh horse racing circles.
The Welsh season comes to an end with the Pembrokeshire Hunt fixture at Trecoed on June 2. Racing gets under way at 2pm.
After the last of the six races have been run there will be the Pembrokeshire Hunt Mixed Scurry Race.
■ THERE’S no stopping Wales’ Connor Brace,16, who is racing away with the national novice riders’ title. Last Wednesday at Cothelstone, he won the Novice Riders’ race on Robin Des People, beating his best friend Jack Tudor on Repeat Business to bring his season’s number of wins to 18.
There was more Welsh success during the evening when David Prichard brought his season’s total number of wins to 11 when scoring on Limoncello and Massini’s Blade.
■ Send your racing news and views to Brian Lee by emailing brianlee4@virginmedia.com