Jodie is a jewel in the crown of the ladies’ race circuit
Pembrokeshire’s Jodie Hughes, the leading female amateur rider in west Wales, had plenty to smile about recently when she was presented with an 18-carat white gold and yellow diamond necklace worth £5,000 after winning the Banks Lyon Jewellers Lady Riders’ Handicap Hurdle at far-flung Cartmel on Wells De Lune, trained by Peter Bowen.
Jodie, 34, who rides out for Bowen’s yard in Little Newcastle, Pembrokeshire, all the year round, told me: “It was rather a special race to win as it is the most valuable ladies’ race of the season and although I have ridden in the race a few times over the years, this was the first time for me to win it.’’
And of the seven-year-old Wells De Lune, she said: “He is a very enthusiastic front-runner and he led every yard of the two-miles-andone-furlong race, travelling and jumping well throughout, and we won by a length and a quarter from the Henry Daley-trained Innocent Touch.’’
It was the second time that Jodie had ridden in a ladies’ hurdle race for Bowen; the first time was in 2014, when she won on his mare Squeeze Me Back at Fakenham.
Jodie also rides for Peter’s son Michael “Mickey” Bowen and she said: “We have a good strike rate as I have won three hunter chases for him and a further 10 winners between the flags.’’
The five hours’ drive to Cartmel with her boyfriend Scott after just returning from a holiday in Turkey certainly proved worthwhile.
Of Cartmel, she said: “It is a lovely track, surrounded by stone walls with a fantastic atmosphere. The finishing straight comes right up through the middle of the track and it was a great feeling coming up there in front of the other eight runners.’’
Wells De Lune was Jodie’s 12th winner under rules. Including the winners she has booted home in point-to-points, her career total of wins is 83 and counting.
Incidentally, Peter Bowen also had plenty to smile about on the day, as not only did he win the first race at Cartmel with Mac Tottie, but later in the afternoon at Market Rasen his eight-year-old More Buck’s, partnered by his son Sean Bowen, landed the 188Bet Summer Plate, worth £28,475 to the winner.
■ Seventy years ago, in 1948, Newport’s Caerleon Racecourse closed its gates and horse-racing would never take place there again.
FH Bayles’ book The Racecourses of Great Britain and Ireland was full of praise for the track, claiming that: “No meeting could be better controlled, and unlimited praise is due to its management because it is selfevident that every energy is devoted to the comfort and consideration of its patrons, for it can be annually recognised that improvements are constantly being made. An excellent example for others who have the subject of sporting form uppermost.
“There are two courses, one for chases and one for hurdle races, both with a running line right-handed.”
The Welsh Grand National was held there in 1948 for the first and only time and was won by Captain Ryan Price’s Bora’s Cottage, who was partnered by Eddie Reavey.
His wife Jocelyn, who was a stable girl when girls were a rarity in racing yards, told me: “My late husband Eddie rode the first big winner Captain Price trained and he rode lots of winners for him, but winning this one was never forgotten by both of them.’’
■ Send your racing news and views to Brian Lee by emailing brianlee4@virginmedia.com or telephoning 029 2073 6438.