Owners have plenty to smile about after claiming three wins
WHEN it comes to racehorse ownership Gwyn Brace and his daughter Jayne, of Coychurch, who are the joint owners of the eight-year-old bay gelding Landofsmiles, have had plenty to smile about of late.
On March 21 former Irish pointto-pointer Landofsmiles, trained by Pembrokeshire’s Peter Bowen and ridden by his son James, was a good winner of a handicap chase at Chepstow.
Then on April 1 at Ffos Las the son of Beneficial beat Robin Of Sherwood. And at far-flung Perth in Scotland on April 21, Landofsmiles won a three-mile handicap chase, beating Do Not Disturb, with Gwyn and Jayne making the long journey to cheer their horse home.
There cannot be many racehorses who have won three races in such a short time and Gwyn and Jayne, well-known on the Welsh horse-racing and point-to-point circuits, will be hoping their pride and joy will be able to make it a four-timer the next time their racehorse faces the starter.
Another recent Chepstow winner was Nikki Steel, who under James King won the handicap hurdle race at odds of 33-1, getting home by a neck from First Quest. Nikki Steel is owned and trained by Pontypool’s Daniel Bourne, who learned a lot about racehorses when working for Chepstow’s Milton Bradley as a young man.
Meanwhile, spare a thought for Ogmore-by-Sea trainer Christian Williams and his stable jockey Jack Tudor, who were very unlucky not to win the last big race of the National Hunt season with Kitty’s Light in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown Park. The 7-2 favourite, Paul Nicholls’
Enrillo, swerved badly left on the run-in and hampered the Welshtrained Kitty’s Light, who had no time to get back in the race before finishing third.
In the end, after a steward’s inquiry, the result read 1. Potterman; 2. Kitty’s Light; 3. Enrillo.
Williams told the press: “I’m proud of my horse. He was the best horse in the race and got a right bang from Enrillo. He should have won. I think my horse will strengthen up over the summer and I might aim him for the Ladbroke Trophy.”
Pontypridd’s Luke Price’s fourhour drive to Cornwall for the Four Burrow Point-To-Point Steeplechases paid off when his ex-Irish Los Alamos under Will Biddick beat Talk Of The South in the men’s open race.
BRIAN’S BLAST FROM THE PAST
In the now sadly long gone The Sporting Life on July 7, 1986 under the heading “Banned Owner Hits Jackpot”, I reported: “Owner Gwyn Griffiths, who was banned from attending or sending horses to any meeting under Jockey Club rules for 15 years, won the richest race ever held at a Welsh unlicensed meeting at the Ely Valley Racing Club races at Llysworney, near Cowbridge on Saturday.
“Griffiths, a greengrocer from MidGlamorgan, won the £1,000 first prize when his eight-year-old gelding Alpha got home by a neck from Little Saint.
“Two years ago Griffiths, at a Jockey Club hearing, was found to have deliberately misled his horse’s trainer Peter Cundell and racecourse stewards.
“His horse Spare Wheel, won the Mildenhall Claiming Stakes at Newmarket, apparently running for the first time in nearly two years, after being backed from 20-1 to 12-1.
“However, Jockey Club officials discovered that Spare Wheel had been running as Boney M and had won several times over the Llysworney racecourse.
“At the time Griffiths said he thought the 15-year ban was excessive, as others who had been involved in doping racehorses, fixing races and bribing jockeys had been let off more lightly.”
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