Alright, its a far cry from Cheltenham, nevertheless the marauding southern yards of Warren Greatrex and Dan Skelton each thought it well worthwhile to send up North their highly touted Novice Chasers One Track Mind and Work in Progress with a view to plundering decent prize money for a Tuesday afternoon at Catterick
If they thought they were in for easy pickings, Sue Smith and stablemates Delusionofgrandeur and Vintage Clouds had other ideas.
Obviously Mr Hemmings horse, on paper, had the better form figures this season, but our horse had been given two very stiff tasks for his first Chasing starts and ran creditably in both without troubling the judge.
So we were hoping for improvement, but with Vintage Clouds again in opposition, as well as the contents of the two horse boxes from Lambourn and Warwickshire, myself and members present at Catterick were not exactly bursting with confidence.
So the overall concensus was place money at best…..except PS that is !!
The betting market suggested it was a two horse race, but from discussions in the parade ring, Sean Quinlan made it clear that he wouldn`t be hanging about.
The flag came down and what followed was brilliant to watch.
Yours truly watched in silence as our fella warmed to his task.
But I`m not known as the man whose glass is always half empty for nothing, and, despite travelling well, I must confess, as they made their way past the post and up the hill on to the final circuit, my thoughts were that the cavalry would be charging very soon.
But the cavalry, we were about to find out, was not able to charge, simply because DoG was showing us that the form he was in last season prior to his final race, was being replicated…at least ….this time over fences….something that myself and members had been hoping and praying for, as we firmly believed his future was jumping fences.
Sean Quinlan rode a brilliant race from the front, and nothing, not even Vintage Clouds this time, could live with him.
Timeform said “Out again fairly quickly, no saving up for handicaps, and 2 sighters were all that were needed over fences for him to start hitting the same heights he did last season over hurdles, likely more in the pipeline given his age and profile, as well as the way he did this, going about it with purpose from the front, turning away his higher-rated stable-companion as the pair pressed on from 4 out, his jumping assured along the way.”
My old fella Mister McGoldrick, now fast approaching 20 years old, would have been well impressed with that performance, if only Pam and Kevin had RUK in his stable at New Beginnings.
Brilliant, brilliant to watch, and once again members having watched and watched again the replay, can be confident that our “Saturday” horse is going places.
Too soon to talk about next race, will update as and when.
Richard