|
|
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY DRAGHOUNDS, COTTENHAM, SUNDAY JANUARY 23
|
Report
George Cooper held back the sands of time yet again to score a memorable victory aboard Jims Belief at the Cambridge University Draghounds Point-To-Point at Cottenham on Sunday.
The meeting survived an early morning inspection because of frost and eventually produced plenty of action to warm up a decent-sized crowd on a bitterly cold afternoon despite unbroken sunshine.
None more so than the duel between Cooper, from Raydon, near Hadleigh, and Richard Burton, the 2003 National Champion Jockey, in the Intermediate Race.
Cooper, who at 61 is something of an East Anglian legend, has the experience to be unfazed by the presence of Shropshire-based Burton, widely acknowledged as one of the best jockeys in the country, aboard Airoski.Cooper set a strong pace and, with Burton breathing down his neck, sat tight when his mount blundered through the second last.
Airoski seemed certain to take advantage yet Jims Belief kept pulling out a bit more to hold his challenge by five lengths, much to the delight of trainer Cherie Cunningham and owners Terry Buxton and Lady Jennifer Green, from Harkstead Hall, near Ipswich.
"I thought he was going to come down at the second last," Cooper admitted, "but he's too big and strong for that."
Peter Johnson is 14 years Cooper's junior but 125 behind him in terms of winners - when Demasta ran away with the opening Members Race it was a first ever triumph in the saddle for Johnson, from Diss, who is the boss of Thetford air conditioning manufacturing firm, Trox.
"I only sat on a horse for the first time at the age of 28," an overjoyed Johnson revealed. "It took me nine years to make it onto a racecourse and now another nine to ride a winner." Demasta is trained in Newmarket by Tim Bryce.
A second jockey getting off the mark was 37-year-old Fiona Coveney, from near Crawley in Sussex. Her unforgettable moment was provided by The Grey Baron, who battled on gamely to beat the hot favourite, Fair Exchange, in the three-runner Ladies' Open.
Burton may have been forced to give best to Cooper, but he put the opposition to the sword in the following Men's Open Race on Honest Yer Honour. Trained in Shropshire by Caroline Beasley, the nine-year-old could now be aimed at the Cheltenham Foxhunter - a race his handler won in 1983 aboard Eliogarty under her maiden name of Beasley.
Philip Hall, from Sussex, completed an amazing weekend by guiding Terimon's Dream to success in the Restricted Race just 25 hours after his first child, Ruby, was born in Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
The owner-trainer-jockey combination of Steven Wilshire (from Towcester), Kim Gilmore (from Banbury) and Paul Cowley took the two and a half mile Maiden race with a French import for the third year running when Beau Gosse got the better of a great battle with Gregory Peckory by a length.
The other Maiden went to Yorkshire as Spider Music, ridden by Richard Clark for his father, Stephen, came from miles back to catch the tearaway leader, Sealed Orders, who is trained at Heydon, near Norwich, by Tina Hayward and was ridden by Richard Morgan-Evans.
The meeting survived an early morning inspection because of frost and eventually produced plenty of action to warm up a decent-sized crowd on a bitterly cold afternoon despite unbroken sunshine.
None more so than the duel between Cooper, from Raydon, near Hadleigh, and Richard Burton, the 2003 National Champion Jockey, in the Intermediate Race.
Cooper, who at 61 is something of an East Anglian legend, has the experience to be unfazed by the presence of Shropshire-based Burton, widely acknowledged as one of the best jockeys in the country, aboard Airoski.Cooper set a strong pace and, with Burton breathing down his neck, sat tight when his mount blundered through the second last.
Airoski seemed certain to take advantage yet Jims Belief kept pulling out a bit more to hold his challenge by five lengths, much to the delight of trainer Cherie Cunningham and owners Terry Buxton and Lady Jennifer Green, from Harkstead Hall, near Ipswich.
"I thought he was going to come down at the second last," Cooper admitted, "but he's too big and strong for that."
Peter Johnson is 14 years Cooper's junior but 125 behind him in terms of winners - when Demasta ran away with the opening Members Race it was a first ever triumph in the saddle for Johnson, from Diss, who is the boss of Thetford air conditioning manufacturing firm, Trox.
"I only sat on a horse for the first time at the age of 28," an overjoyed Johnson revealed. "It took me nine years to make it onto a racecourse and now another nine to ride a winner." Demasta is trained in Newmarket by Tim Bryce.
A second jockey getting off the mark was 37-year-old Fiona Coveney, from near Crawley in Sussex. Her unforgettable moment was provided by The Grey Baron, who battled on gamely to beat the hot favourite, Fair Exchange, in the three-runner Ladies' Open.
Burton may have been forced to give best to Cooper, but he put the opposition to the sword in the following Men's Open Race on Honest Yer Honour. Trained in Shropshire by Caroline Beasley, the nine-year-old could now be aimed at the Cheltenham Foxhunter - a race his handler won in 1983 aboard Eliogarty under her maiden name of Beasley.
Philip Hall, from Sussex, completed an amazing weekend by guiding Terimon's Dream to success in the Restricted Race just 25 hours after his first child, Ruby, was born in Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
The owner-trainer-jockey combination of Steven Wilshire (from Towcester), Kim Gilmore (from Banbury) and Paul Cowley took the two and a half mile Maiden race with a French import for the third year running when Beau Gosse got the better of a great battle with Gregory Peckory by a length.
The other Maiden went to Yorkshire as Spider Music, ridden by Richard Clark for his father, Stephen, came from miles back to catch the tearaway leader, Sealed Orders, who is trained at Heydon, near Norwich, by Tina Hayward and was ridden by Richard Morgan-Evans.
Results
Race One (Cambridge University Draghounds Members Race):
1 P Johnson's Demasta (Cambridge University) (Owner),
2 Mrs D M Hall's Mackoy (Cambridge University) (Miss H Hall).
3 H Hill's The Rural Dean (Cambridge University) (Miss J Mills-Hewitt). Also: Hail Stone (4), Herolindo (ur), Kingswell Achcha (f), Valman (pu).
A distance, a distance, 6.03. W £5.90. DF £8.50. SP 9-2. (Hail Stone 7-4fav).
Race Two (Intermediate Race):
1 Lady Green & T Buxton's Jims Belief (Essex & Suffolk) (G Cooper),
2 J Beasley's Airoski (Albrighton) (R Burton),
3 J Callow's Mr Naborro (Worcestershire) (A Wintle). Also: Jack of Kilcash (4), Master Club Royal (5), Helmsley Flier (6), Breezy Betsy (pu), Fountain Street (pu), Hi Tech Man (pu), Just Fluster (f), Times Past (pu).
Five lengths, a distance. 5.58. W £9.90. DF £10.70. SP 8-1 (Airoski 4-6fav).
Race Three (Mens Open Race):
1 S P Burke's Honest Yer Honour (Albrighton)(R Burton),
2 C Morton's Shiny Bay (Pytchley) (R Barrett),
3 A Gibbons' Castle Prince (Essex)(Owner). Also: Philtre (4), Knock it Back (5), Dinsey Finnegan (6), Bold Hunter (7), Cock a Hoop (pu), Good Heart (pu).
12lengths, 15 lengths. 6.00. W £2.40. DF £3.70. SP Evens fav.
Race Four (Ladies Open Race):
1 Mr & Mrs A Coveney's The Grey Baron (Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent) (Mrs F Coveney),
2 J M Turner's Fair Exchange (Suffolk) (Miss Z Turner),
3 W J Moore's Left Bank (Belvoir) (Miss V Moore).
Five lengths, three-quarters of a length. 6.14. W £2. DF £2.80. SP 5-1 (Fair Exchange 1-3fav).
Race Five (Restricted Race):
1 D Braxton's Terimon's Dream (East Sussex & Romney Marsh) (P Hall),
2 P C Froud's To the Top (Vale of Aylesbury with Garth and S Berks) (J Tudor),
3 Mr & Mrs W Brown's Holywell Girl (Cambridgeshire with Enfield Chace) (J Owen). Also: Mr Know What (4), Parson Humfrywebber (5), Society Scandal (6), Hill of Kilfeacle (7), Kingfisher Star (8), C Rewski (pu), Troubleshooter (ur).
10 lengths, 15 lengths. 6.04. W £2.40. DF £7. SP 5-2 (Holywell Girl 7-4fav).
Race Six (Open Maiden Race (8-Y-O and over):
1 S B Clark's Spider Music (York & Ainsty South) (R Clark),
2 J J Greenwood's Sealed Orders (West Norfolk) (R Morgan-Evans),
3 S B Clark's Supreme Optimist (York and Ainsty South) (Miss R Clark). Also: Berewolf (4), Lightning Fork (5),
The Meadow Stream (6), Euro Craft (f), Pirate King (ur), The Small Farmer (f).
Five lengths, Three lengths. 6.16. Win £8.40 DF £23.60 SP 7-1 (The Small Farmer 5-4fav).
Race Seven (Open Maiden Race (5, 6 and 7-Y-O) 2.5 mile):
1 S N Wilshire's Beau Gosse (Grafton) (P Cowley),
2 Mrs R Mackness' Gregory Peckory (Cotswold) (D England),
3 Miss S L Simmons' Waterliner (Cambridgeshire with Enfield Chace) (A Merriam). Also: Alfie Moon (4), Lawman (5), John the Mole (6), Spring Frolic (7), Sonofa Sorcerer (8), Fort Glendennon (pu), Hills of Rakaposhi (f), Kismet (ur), Mandanjoe (pu), Old
Trafford Lord (pu), Slingsby Lady (pu), Thornton Bridge (pu).
One length, five lengths. 4.36. Win £4. DF £5.70. SP 7-4fav.
1 P Johnson's Demasta (Cambridge University) (Owner),
2 Mrs D M Hall's Mackoy (Cambridge University) (Miss H Hall).
3 H Hill's The Rural Dean (Cambridge University) (Miss J Mills-Hewitt). Also: Hail Stone (4), Herolindo (ur), Kingswell Achcha (f), Valman (pu).
A distance, a distance, 6.03. W £5.90. DF £8.50. SP 9-2. (Hail Stone 7-4fav).
Race Two (Intermediate Race):
1 Lady Green & T Buxton's Jims Belief (Essex & Suffolk) (G Cooper),
2 J Beasley's Airoski (Albrighton) (R Burton),
3 J Callow's Mr Naborro (Worcestershire) (A Wintle). Also: Jack of Kilcash (4), Master Club Royal (5), Helmsley Flier (6), Breezy Betsy (pu), Fountain Street (pu), Hi Tech Man (pu), Just Fluster (f), Times Past (pu).
Five lengths, a distance. 5.58. W £9.90. DF £10.70. SP 8-1 (Airoski 4-6fav).
Race Three (Mens Open Race):
1 S P Burke's Honest Yer Honour (Albrighton)(R Burton),
2 C Morton's Shiny Bay (Pytchley) (R Barrett),
3 A Gibbons' Castle Prince (Essex)(Owner). Also: Philtre (4), Knock it Back (5), Dinsey Finnegan (6), Bold Hunter (7), Cock a Hoop (pu), Good Heart (pu).
12lengths, 15 lengths. 6.00. W £2.40. DF £3.70. SP Evens fav.
Race Four (Ladies Open Race):
1 Mr & Mrs A Coveney's The Grey Baron (Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent) (Mrs F Coveney),
2 J M Turner's Fair Exchange (Suffolk) (Miss Z Turner),
3 W J Moore's Left Bank (Belvoir) (Miss V Moore).
Five lengths, three-quarters of a length. 6.14. W £2. DF £2.80. SP 5-1 (Fair Exchange 1-3fav).
Race Five (Restricted Race):
1 D Braxton's Terimon's Dream (East Sussex & Romney Marsh) (P Hall),
2 P C Froud's To the Top (Vale of Aylesbury with Garth and S Berks) (J Tudor),
3 Mr & Mrs W Brown's Holywell Girl (Cambridgeshire with Enfield Chace) (J Owen). Also: Mr Know What (4), Parson Humfrywebber (5), Society Scandal (6), Hill of Kilfeacle (7), Kingfisher Star (8), C Rewski (pu), Troubleshooter (ur).
10 lengths, 15 lengths. 6.04. W £2.40. DF £7. SP 5-2 (Holywell Girl 7-4fav).
Race Six (Open Maiden Race (8-Y-O and over):
1 S B Clark's Spider Music (York & Ainsty South) (R Clark),
2 J J Greenwood's Sealed Orders (West Norfolk) (R Morgan-Evans),
3 S B Clark's Supreme Optimist (York and Ainsty South) (Miss R Clark). Also: Berewolf (4), Lightning Fork (5),
The Meadow Stream (6), Euro Craft (f), Pirate King (ur), The Small Farmer (f).
Five lengths, Three lengths. 6.16. Win £8.40 DF £23.60 SP 7-1 (The Small Farmer 5-4fav).
Race Seven (Open Maiden Race (5, 6 and 7-Y-O) 2.5 mile):
1 S N Wilshire's Beau Gosse (Grafton) (P Cowley),
2 Mrs R Mackness' Gregory Peckory (Cotswold) (D England),
3 Miss S L Simmons' Waterliner (Cambridgeshire with Enfield Chace) (A Merriam). Also: Alfie Moon (4), Lawman (5), John the Mole (6), Spring Frolic (7), Sonofa Sorcerer (8), Fort Glendennon (pu), Hills of Rakaposhi (f), Kismet (ur), Mandanjoe (pu), Old
Trafford Lord (pu), Slingsby Lady (pu), Thornton Bridge (pu).
One length, five lengths. 4.36. Win £4. DF £5.70. SP 7-4fav.
