Emma Lavelle has grabbed the opportunity brought about by her move to Ogbourne Maizey with both hands, and after an excellent season last term, she's maintaining the momentum in these quieter months of the summer campaign.
Tom Bellamy, her new stable jockey, is another making the most of his opportunities, the latest of which came with the long trip to Cartmel on Saturday, where 5 year old Voice of Calm ran out a 4 1/4l victor of the Mares Handicap Hurdle. One would never describe Cartmel as venue for top flight racing, although it's no less engaging for that. With an average crowd pre-Covid of 13,000, it has something to teach the likes of Sandown and Wetherby!
The Lavelle string is running well, as demonstrated by a second winner on Saturday, this time at Ffos Las, where seven year old mare Jemima P continued a stellar run of success this Spring with her third win in the novices handicap chase, following victories at Exeter and Worcester. She's now improved 15lbs according to the handicapper, but it looks as if she's still ahead of his mark.
Reel back the clock to Friday where the race of the evening saw Chippenham-based Nick Wright, Chairman of the Point-to-Point Racing Company, just lose out in a scintillating finish to the Print Concern Restricted Hunters Final. This series, supported by Tim Underwood, himself an ardent supporter of the amateur division of the sport, encourages younger horses, and in Nick's Tekap and winner The Bonny Boy, trained in Sudbury by Ruth Pennock, we have a fine pair.
The two had met previously last month at Kingston Blount, where just a neck separated them at the line, Tekap the winner. This time around, the placings were reversed, the margin the same. It was hunter chasing at iots best, and whilst the two got close enough after the last to force a Stewards' Enquiry, allowing the result to stand seemed an appropriate response. Roll on Round Three!
Sadly, Wiltshire horses got no sort of a look in the feature races of a splendid Hunters' card at Stratford. East Anglia did well, when the Pertemps Network Stratford Foxhunter fell to Law of Gold for Norfolk farmer David Kemp, but perhaps the most promising recruit of the season was Vaucelet, who travelled all the way from Ulster to win the point-to-point.co.uk Champion Novices, beating the two best British novices, Fumet d'Oudairies and Premier Magic, with something in hand.
Emma Lavelle has grabbed the opportunity brought about by her move to Ogbourne Maizey with both hands, and after an excellent season last term, she's maintaining the momentum in these quieter months of the summer campaign.
Tom Bellamy, her new stable jockey, is another making the most of his opportunities, the latest of which came with the long trip to Cartmel on Saturday, where 5 year old Voice of Calm ran out a 4 1/4l victor of the Mares Handicap Hurdle. One would never describe Cartmel as venue for top flight racing, although it's no less engaging for that. With an average crowd pre-Covid of 13,000, it has something to teach the likes of Sandown and Wetherby!
The Lavelle string is running well, as demonstrated by a second winner on Saturday, this time at Ffos Las, where seven year old mare Jemima P continued a stellar run of success this Spring with her third win in the novices handicap chase, following victories at Exeter and Worcester. She's now improved 15lbs according to the handicapper, but it looks as if she's still ahead of his mark.
Reel back the clock to Friday where the race of the evening saw Chippenham-based Nick Wright, Chairman of the Point-to-Point Racing Company, just lose out in a scintillating finish to the Print Concern Restricted Hunters Final. This series, supported by Tim Underwood, himself an ardent supporter of the amateur division of the sport, encourages younger horses, and in Nick's Tekap and winner The Bonny Boy, trained in Sudbury by Ruth Pennock, we have a fine pair.
The two had met previously last month at Kingston Blount, where just a neck separated them at the line, Tekap the winner. This time around, the placings were reversed, the margin the same. It was hunter chasing at iots best, and whilst the two got close enough after the last to force a Stewards' Enquiry, allowing the result to stand seemed an appropriate response. Roll on Round Three!
Sadly, Wiltshire horses got no sort of a look in the feature races of a splendid Hunters' card at Stratford. East Anglia did well, when the Pertemps Network Stratford Foxhunter fell to Law of Gold for Norfolk farmer David Kemp, but perhaps the most promising recruit of the season was Vaucelet, who travelled all the way from Ulster to win the point-to-point.co.uk Champion Novices, beating the two best British novices, Fumet d'Oudairies and Premier Magic, with something in hand.
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