Nice tree
There are many buildings which have been earmarked for demolition here at Plumpton on the bases of being vacant and these are easily recognisable as those where the rotting wood has had a thick dollop of gloss to hold them together. The Spartan nature of the offices is best exemplified by the Ring Manager’s (!) Office (not in work today) whose furniture consists of a trestle table (no draws) wooden chair (no padding) two windows (no curtains) clearly nodding appreciatively to interview rooms straight from The Sweeney. In fact the age group predominating today were in the category that they may well have been extras in a pub scene with Carter chatting up some beehived bint dressed in a brown fake fur minicoat (the girl not Carter !). Leads to another question; why do southerners over sixty all look like Grouty?
Horse racing happily co-exists with Rugby here in East Sussex probably because the course is such a tight circumference that a golf course of only crazy standard would fit. The rugby goalposts are basically scaffold tubes bending inwards and flapping about in the wind making converting hit and miss. The pitch was waterlogged mainly due to the topsoil depth so gossamer thin as to enable only moss to gain enough purchase. In fact the paucity of the topsoil means the going is never very deep at Plumpton as clay tends to hold rather than shove. The clay here is very good quality and you wander if brick-making might be a bit of a profitable sideline for the executive to consider.
I remember a few years ago being at one of the two NH Sussex tracks where an un-usual incident occurred. I had a thumb through some of my old form books for a bank holiday meeting where the racing comments said ‘led until hampered by streaker half-way’ but couldn’t find it. I can only guess that this incident was the result of a prize fighter losing a bet with the bearded lady one hot Mayday afternoon. I can however clearly recall seeing the field going past the post on their eighth or ninth lap in the three miler when a fat fortyish crewcut man strolled naked in amongst the field of selling platers clutching a can of special brew. Amazingly he was unhurt despite the sort of bonecruching shoulder to shoulder collision usually only seem at St Helens. Glancing through old racecards from Plumpton visits in the 1980s I noticed that the chief steward of the time was Captain A Pratt which was the same name as the course auctioneers being Pratt and Co. So plenty of sellers you would suspect. Also interesting name amongst the stewards was the Waley Cohen a name to come to prominence in the hunter chasing arena twenty-five years later.
Perhaps they thought there was a carboot sale
Plumpton was definitely the scene of an act of horrendous treachery predicated by myself. In a bumper back on Easter Monday 1984 there was an interesting runner in the Bourne leisure Group National Hunt Flat Race worth £460 to the winner. Owned by Mrs Lydia Clay ( already contemplating glugging through the case of Veueve Cliquot awarded to Plumpton’s most successful owner of the season) trained by her husband, the charge, Count Frederick, was a Rhinegold gelding out of a Ribot mare and that was all I needed to convince me that it should scoot home on the prevailing brick hard going. Every board bar one had him down at 3/1. The exception had 12/1 mainly because the lazy clerk had managed a quick peek at the others and stuck the wrong price up. I stepped in to avail myself of the generosity. Ten minutes later my sculldugery had been rewarded but with a heavy heart that the effort was merely reward for which the guilt has now been assuaged in part but this cathartic submission.
The Racing
What’s on Brighton and Hove maiden hurdle over 2 miles for mares opened proceedings. It was won in very easy style by the Tim Vaughan trained Tom David ridden The Hague. She looked well in the paddock and is a strong type who could also jump fences in time. Made a couple of minor errors, always close up led from 3 out and pulled well clear being eased down. Flat form suggests that she suits tricky twisting tracks and appears to act on any going. She could shoulder a penalty in novice company particularly against fellow mares. If a Rock of Gibralta filly out of a Saddlers Wells mare turned up first time out at Newmarket you’d have a second look. The fact that she cost 200,000 euros would make you think that she might have a shot at listed level. Two runs later here she is lost at Plumpton clearly thinking that the clay on her Guicci plates is a bit of a problem. So it was for the Nicky Henderson trainer AP ridden runner up Alystar who held every chance but was not good enough. In fact nearly nutted out of it for second by the staying on South American bred scruff Lucky Dance (sounding suspiciously like one of the fairground plastic horses which some of the pikeys attending today will have thus backed out of sentiment). Bizarrely the most ebullient jockey back in the winners’ enclosure was Colin Bolger on board fourth placed Promised Wings. The mare had been held up and made good progress before an error in the straight but she did stay on well and Colin’s very loud enthusiasm for the mare next run should be noted. For my part I thought she ran with much more promise that in her Folkestone debut. We backed favourite Koup De Kanon ran like a pig having been scrubbed along to be in contention 5 out making mistakes and finished a well beaten sixth holding little promise on the face of this effort.
Tom David explains how he got first run on the champ
Keystone Cops event of the day was the mares’ novice chase over 2 miles 4. Halfway through this looked like a ‘What Happened Next’ Grand National special of Question of Sport because for all the world it looked like none of the five would get around. First of all barely a mile into the event the moderately fancied Gan On slowed to a halt pulling up after a poor demonstration of jumping. At the same time Present Gem pulled up with the sort of exaggerated limp of a wheezing fat third former trying to get out of cross country, again. Before the straight the endearingly broncoish Karringabay Queen finally managed to dislodge her partner in the style of a low-key Arizona rodeo mustang. This led the odds on favourite Evella to appear the best placed until you contemplated how sloppy her jumping had been and only a combination of good luck and grim reigns grabbing had enabled the unlikeliest of clear rounds. Only Austerienne seemed to be defying the trend but ambling through on the bit to have the race in the bag 3 out. However a spectacular blunder 2 out led to Choc Thornton grabbing hold of her and approaching the last in Schockermoller style at barely a canter to climb over the fence in the most unconvincing of manners. This lot will not win again any time soon.
How can I avoid riding this one next time muses Thornton
In the class 4 two mile handicap hurdle the made all winner Beau Lake tried his very best to throw what appeared to be an unassailable lead at the second last with two pretty moderate hurdling efforts. Has now run up a double at Plumpton and on 99 is still somw way off his original mark so could follow up. Olympian is returning to form and is on a good mark. Favourite Oscar Close has some good form in relative terms in Ireland but was disappointing today so probably best left. Fourth home was Chocolat who was the one I liked the look of the most in the paddock. However despite racing wide to find better ground was beaten into the straight. I would guess a return to 2 miles and better ground would help him do well off this 94 handicap mark.
Runners leave paddock for the third
Beau Lake powers clear to win well
The Highfields Farm Challenge Trophy was a class 4 handicap chase over 2m1. It featured the perennial around here in the shape of The Hardy Boy. He was flying over the fences, clearly well at ease around Plumpton’s tight turns until the eleven year old hit the last in the straight first lap when clear and then falling heavily. This left Restezen D’amour well ahead and he powered clear winning as he liked although did take the second last clumsily. Better over 2 mile than further but this was a poor race and the interest was mainly taken out of it by the failure of The Hardy Boy to complete.
The mares’ handicap hurdle over 21f was a tight affair with several in with a chance late on. Arctic Flow prevailed through better stamina and may well stay further but her hurdling is still sketchy. However she may well have been beaten if the leader Heres The Key hadn’t hit the last and although rallied could not haul in the winner who had taken advantage of her error. Kaituna finished third after being held up and not given the hardest time of her life when trying to gain another course and distance win. She could be interesting is retuning here in handicapping company.
Tight finish as the leaders head to the last
The final chase on the card was won by the very useful claiming amateur Roddy Henderson. He rode Deep Pockets very well having survived several almost catastrophic errors to find himself miles adrift in second place with 6f to go. He smoothly rode him into contention in the straight and then picked up the long term leader close home. The horse is not all that but the jockey is useful in his field and worth his claim. I had seen him ride two very good races at Leicester earlier in the month.The runner up Western Whisky was made too much use of as the leading pair proceeded to knock lumps out of each other until the favourite Strongbows Legend fell along the backstraight final time. This left Western Whisky with what appeared to be an unassailable lead. But he was knackered heading for home and his lead was smoothly eroded. My view is that both Western Whisky and Strongbows Legend would have won if the other had not participated. Of the pair I think Strongbows Legend is the most likeliest to win in the near future.
Milling around before the final chase of the card
To finish off an uninspiring card was a selling handicap hurdle in all bar name over three miles. The gloom around the track which had persisted all day was compounded with fading winter light to make this a race too far. Perhaps a bumper would have been a better option as I am not sure if it is entirely safe to race in such poor visibility on a day where fallers and poor jumping had been de rigueur (perhaps it was a bit slippery on top as clay is encountered at about plate depth). A case in point was the front running strongly fancied favourite Saulty Max who seemed to be hurdling and going ok when tipping up 4 out. I do not think she would have won as I thought she looked a difficult and temperamental ride when I saw her run earlier in the month at Taunton which marked her down as a lay. Not one of the field jumped fluently, several pulled up and those that finished were in a bedraggled convoy that looked like the backmarkers limping home in the Lesser Sodden half marathon. Nothing of note other than the favourite’s continuing mediocrity was noteworthy and as such all will find winning extremely hard in the future. This is particularly so if the handicapper decides that Saulty Max would have won if she had stood up and allots weight accordingly. This practice of hypothetical ratings is poor craic as was the case of a Conor O’Farrell ridden David Pipe trained novice at Taunton the other week. Up over a stone for falling. Madness
Notebook
The Hague down £20
00
Not done much since as handicapper seems to ahve got a grip and as such will leave him alone
Promised Wings down £30
422
Not been a disgrace since this run as has two seconds one at a reasonable each way punt at 25/1. Can win but I will close on him now
Koup Du Kanou (Negative) up £8
2 1 6/5 0
Hasn't done too badly since this run and suited a stiff course as shown by Carlisle win. Slightly on the right side so I will make my excuses
Austerienne(Negative) up £20
40
Proven to be a hopeless jumper of fences and lost both efforts since. Will close off now up
Kaituna up £27.50
1(11/4)
Won very well next time at Ludlow. But then up 20 pounds and at that point I made an exit from backing.
Strongbows Legend down £30
2 2 0
Thought he could have picked up a modest event but a couple of fair seconds when favourite plus a well beaten run at Exeter this autumn has meant appeal lost and he is disgarded as a betting medium
Saulty Max (N)up £10
P
Useless