REPORT – Carmarthenshire at Ffos Las – Sunday 20th November

If we needed reminding what point to pointing in Wales was all about the opener for the season made sure we were not to forget. As the racing public descended on the gates of the course the heavens opened and a downpour of biblical proportions descended. Wind, rain that went sideways and even hailstones had the public scurrying for the bar. Champion Jockey James King was walking the course at that exact point in time and being somewhere down the back straight had to resign himself to getting a thorough soaking. Thankfully, the permanent facilities offered electric hand driers with which he could repair some of the damage. The declaration clerks of the day were happy to be sat at a table in the warmth of the weighing room watching the less lucky members of the committee battling the elements.

Thankfully the weather passed quickly and had moved on before the first race; it had however turned the ground very wet and the races did indeed “take some getting”.

If you watched a movie about a little horse that had recovered from a fractured leg, being led up a man in his seventies who had recovered from cancer, and trained by a sixty-year-old with heart problems, on the side of a mountain, you would probably feel that the script was a little farfetched. This is however the exact scenario behind the winner of the opener, the Hunt Members race Ask Dai (IRE). Add to that the fact that the combined age of the team getting him ready on the day was 196 and the tale becomes even more heart-warming. Only jockey Bradley Gibbs and co- owner Phil Williams are too young to have a bus pass. Having taken a good hold all throughout the race the odds-on favourite galloped strongly all the way to the line seeing off the challenge of Quarenta (FR) and Callum Pritchard.

There was also something of a tale to the winner of the second race on the card The Jockey Club Mares Maiden. The nice looking grey Serenisa had been given to the Alan Hill team for free having previously been in training with Jamie Snowden. Having had a touch of leg trouble she was given a year off and offered out to a syndicate for whom she was the first winner; it was also the mares first time over fences. Connections say she loves the soft ground and is ideally suited by two and a half miles. The mare led all the way under Izzie Marshall scoring from Grenadine Save (FR) who was her closest challenger after Aunt Lily, who had been in contention, unseated at the third last.

The equivalent contest for Horses and Geldings followed and saw only three of the nine runners complete the course. The winner was the even money favourite Regal Blue (IRE) under Will Biddick. The big, impressive son of French Navy was bought out of Ireland and has already been sold to Sir Chips Keswick to go into training with Jamie Snowden. The entire family of his dam Deceptive, was bred by the late Her Majesty the Queen.

The Mixed Open had always looked an appetising prospect on paper but with the ground becoming ever more testing this was another contest where only a handful of the starters finished. Unluckiest of all was Oistrakh Le Noir (FR) who was clear before falling at the last leaving the victor’s spot open to be claimed by Zee Man(FR) and James King, for Fred Hutsby , with Kimberlite Candy (IRE), doing his best to close the gap in second. The winning jockey described the ground as “gruelling” and that his mount had jumped well in the conditions.

An excited band of supporters cheered home owner-trainer George Edgedale in the Restricted aboard Kilpin (IRE). George works for Alan King and spends his lunch break training the seven-year-old Milan gelding. This was George’s second winner, but there was no chance of celebration as he had driven the box to the races and had to get his charge safely home. Having taken the lead three from home Kilpin scored by thirty lengths from Hideaway Vic (IRE) the 9/4 favourite and No Dice (FR).

Bradley Gibbs was denied a double on the day by the Ffos Las scales which were weighing heavier than those he uses at his Hertfordshire yard, so he had to hand the reins of Honey I’m Good, trained by himself, to his work rider Josh Younge who duly obliged by bringing the mare home thirty lengths clear of her nearest rival Macfin (IRE), who had been sent off favourite, and The Dawn Man (IRE). The mare is owned by an enthusiastic bunch of Welsh point to point supporters who all gathered in the paddock for a photo with the mare along with her ecstatic groom Natalie.

The meeting closed with a “bumper race” for four-and-five-year-olds and it was good to see the race being run at a very sedate pace. Izzy Marshall scored her double for the day as did the Alan Hill yard with Ilhela d’Engilbert(FR) from C’est Bleu and Will Biddick with Shady B (GB) back in third. There looks to be more to come from the Karaktar (IRE) gelding as he drew steadily clear and ran on well to the line.

A good day’s racing with many runners from outside the principality drew to a close but not the entertainment as the Ukelele band were still in full voice underneath the stands.