Looking back at highlight of hunt racing calendar
WELSH hunt racing owners, trainers and riders’ main target of the season, ever since it was first run in 1996, is the Dunraven Bowl Hunters’ Steeplechase held at Chepstow Racecourse in April.
So when this year’s race was called off owing to the racing lockdown, many hunt-racing enthusiasts were disappointed, to say the least.
The first running of the race was won by Miss Millbrook which gave the Vale of Glamorgan’s Evan Williams the first of his three winning rides. Now a successful trainer, Williams also won on Bob Mason’s Cherry Gold in 2003 and 2004. And when Cherry Gold won again in 2005 Jason Cook was in the saddle.
Dai Jones, now Clerk of the Course at Ffos Las Racecourse, who rode more than 200 winners betweenthe-flags, won on Keith Pritchard’s Cannon Bridge in 2006 and Rhondda’s Rhys Hughes, like Williams, also won the race three times with Kilbreena (2007) the prolific Lady Myfanwy (2008) and Bob Bites Back (2009). Llanharan’s Tom David took the 2010 renewal on David Lovell’s Master Charm and it was David’s late father bookmaker John Lovell who had introduced computerised betting to the UK and who had been a great supporter of Welsh point-topoint racing.
First past the post by a length in 2011 was Bob’s Law but runner-up Eric Clough’s Pathian Prince under Paul Tolman was later in the year awarded the race after Bob’s Law’s disqualification.
The well-fancied Rosies Peacock, a winner of 32 races, reared over on the way to the start injuring rider John Mathias so badly that he ended up in hospital. However, John not only went on to win the 2014 renewal on Lee Power’s Gale Force Oscar he won it again the following year on the 11-year-old Desertmore View. John who hails from Pembrokeshire is the only rider in history to have ridden all six winners at a point-topoint-and not only on one occasion but on two!
In 2016, Claire Sherriff ’s sevenyear-old bay mare My Coranna, a winner of her previous four races, trained by Ynysbwl’s David Gibbs and ridden by his son Bradley Gibbs won by three lengths from Repeat
Business. However, Repeat Business under Richard Patrick went one better the following year, 2017, when coming home five lengths ahead of Tinkers Hill Tommy much to the delight of his owner Cowbridge’s Jeffrey Bird.
Also delighted was winning trainer former rider Jonathan Tudor, who was saddling his 30th winner for Mr Bird.
Tinkers Hill Tommy, owned by west Wales farmer Dewi Lewis and trained by Mr Lewis’s daughter-inlaw Bridget Lewis, went one better the following year, 2018, when romping home 19 lengths ahead of Kilcrea Bridge.
Herefordshire-born jockey Peter Bryan told me in the winner’s enclosure: “He was just brilliant’’. Pink
Eyed Pedro, ridden by the sponsor’s 16-year-old grandson, Connor Brace, was just pipped for third place by Robin Des People.
David Brace’s home-bred Pink Eyed Pedro was ridden by Jonathan Tudor’s son Jack Tudor in 2019 and the cheers that went up when the eight-year-old approached the final obstacle almost lifted the roof off the grandstand. Mr and Mrs Brace’s 248 guests in The View Restaurant all broke out in cheers and not only for the fact that they had probably backed the winner which had opened up at 4-1 and was returned a 11-4 shot.
Although only seven horses had faced the starter – the smallest field ever – the race was full of intrigue as TheGirlFromMilan, a winner of her three previous races and usually a good jumper, put in some bad jumps and Mr Robbo, an impressive winner of his previous race, disappointed and was pulled up.
Pink Eyed Pedro came home 11 lengths ahead of TheGirlFromMilan, with Fateh, ridden by Peter Bryan, a further 16 lengths back in third place. Mr Brace told me: “That was just fantastic and Jack gave him a super ride.’’ And on dismounting Jack Tudor who would be celebrating his 17th birthday a few days later said: “He’s a very brave horse and the race was run to suit him.’’
David Brace who had tried to win this race on a number of occasions and who has been a great supporter of horse racing in Wales had at last fulfilled his great ambition.