Walker’s winners steal show at Ottery
ED Walker’s Ottery St Mary yard stole the headlines at a well watered Flete Park last Saturday, with two winners and two seconds, writes Granville Taylor .
Field Exhibition soon set up a very long lead in the Marchand Petit Conditions race run over the shorter distance of two and a half miles and this free running 12-year-old never looked like being caught.
Formerly a winner under rules for Christian Williams, the mare was picked up at Doncaster sales and became a first winner for 21-year-old Ella Herbert. “She is so fizzy and tends to put me there,” said the rider.
The winning trainer explained: “She has been running in a nose net and we have tried to hold her up. My aim was to get Ella a winner. She works and lives in the yard.”
The yard’s regular rider Chloe Emsley rode odds-on favourite Board Of Trade to win the Olympus Plant & Tool Hire Veteran Horse Conditions, catching front running This Breac at the last. This 11-year-old runs in the colours of the trainer’s racing club and their “group of otters”, and had won the four-mile Ladies’ Open on this course last year.
Chloe Emsley was enjoying her fifth winner of the season and is now leading the area Ladies’ award, but had earlier had to settle for the runner up spot on both Hold Me Tight and Danseur Du Large. Hold Me Tight was unable to get to grips with the Robert Chanin-trained Call Simon in the Francis Clark Maiden. Josh Newman took the winning ride on the well-bred Call Simon”
Danseur Du Large was just chasing shadows in the Totnes & Bridgetown Races Co Ladies’ four miler. This became an easy opportunity for Olive Nicholls whose mount Virak was never headed wearing first time blinkers. Olive has a good chance of landing the Highflyer Bloodstock novice title which seems to be developing into a three way finish.
Say About It stepped up on last week’s Axe Vale run to win the Hassall Law Restricted under Vinny Webster after the favourite Champions Hill had run out of steam at the penultimate. The winner joined his owner / trainer Roy Smith two years ago from Victor Dartnall.
Alternatif, trained by Annie Bacon at Frome for the Dartmoor Racing Club, followed up his recent Flete Park win when easily beating Syracuse’s Dream in the Brewin Dolphin Novice Riders race. Otis Morgan sent his mount to the front at the fourth and was a distance clear passing the judge. Otis is studying for his A levels at Sherborne School and has already gained full marks around Flete as one of the leading riders here in the past two years.