rebelfm

Hereford provides the final Midlands track on the marathon excursion to get to every GB course in a year. We now have only four left to complete on time and only the weather can beat me.  The trip today was through some fog and at one stage I thought perhaps the racing was going to be abandoned at worse or marred because of poor visibility at best. However the fog lifted before mid-day and it turned out to be a nice November day, quite mild, dry and overcast. Hereford is an unfussy course but nicely laid out with key stuff easily accessible. Facilities are not great but at least good viewing stands if a bit remote from the course as set back a fair distance from the racing.

The course is just to the north east of the town and as such you can avoid the town centre which is handy from a traffic perspective. It is within walking distance so no liberty taken with the course names.

The track has a nice positioning of the pre-parade ring (which had a couple of fine trees including a decent Silver Birch which would have needed further consideration if its roots were in the main paddock), right next to it is the main paddock (no tree, not even a scrub) and a winners’ enclosure. This was all tidy and allowed a good view of the horses before and after the races. Although no award this was a decent set up.

No water feature at all that I could see, no arty bits and bobs at all and nothing imaginative in the architecture.

The going today was officially good to soft but I thought it was perfect ground and as such I thought it was good going. Plenty of grass covering and little sign of horses going in too deep. The good weather has helped groundsmen although getting this ground still takes skill so fair play to the Hereford team.

The approach to the track is not that encouraging as the access road to the car parking was clearly designed and maintained with off road vehicles much loved by the rural swaggerhunds very much in mind. The potholes were truly epic and are of such regularity and quality that must have been engineered. On the plus side was that the car parking was within a 100 metres of the entrance, so no hike around to get in.
The entrance to the course is boring nothing of note but nowhere near the sinking feeling approaching the giant that is York. When you get in though it is a spacious yet intimate course and that is a rare combination. No artefacts and the stands are pretty bleak really in design terms. There are a number of building now idle and some of the timber on one of the stands needs a bit of maintenance. But it did not have a run-down feel at all.

I had a frantic search for a decent cup of tea. The cafes all had those dreadful machine things which spit out unpalatable and often scalding slop. However I did find a fair cuppa at the burger van and they had made an effort to provide real milk. The price at £1.40 was OK and only 10p more than the machine. On the food front I thought the pie / pasties looked fine including the famed Chicken Balti. I was not that hungry so at £3 I had a big bowl of pasta and spicy tomato sauce. Very nice, cooked fresh so good value. All in all I thought the food on offer was good and there were other restaurants including a Silks which is generally of a high standard. The restaurant wasn’t too full but at least there was plenty on offer for the racegoer. Private dining in suits such as The Bregawn completed the facility review. Not bad at all then

The card today was not bad really with two female only races added to the interest. The cost though at £16 was maybe a bit too big. This does need to be balanced with the fact that there was an access all areas strategy which is always very much appreciated. So on the value front not too bad but I have had much better days for less.

Communication was not great as there was a fairly perfunctural feel to the commentary from the usually good value Kat. The racecard at £3 needs to have  a bit more to it than the usual mix of runners and adverts. So not great on the customer care front. There was though plenty of promotion of a disabled peoples’ charity backing one of the races. There was plenty of fund raising going on and the attendance was swollen by some wheelchair bound people attending who seemed to have a great time. It is one of the major successes of the racecourses that wheelchair positioning is often at some of the best viewing areas. These are often left vacant even when it is clear that there are not that many spectators who would be permitted to view from there. Typical of racegoers in general is a gene which discourages rule-breaking.

Just past the winning posts and beyond a side entrance is a car park easily accessible for the general public. This gives ideal freemans territory. On the day of my visit there were no takers for this so there you have it. One aspect which always gives me a bit of a downer on the course is where there is no access to the centre of the course. No sign here that you could get in the middle which seemed to have a large golf course and a couple of all whether multi-use games areas each having floodlights.   

It is a long drive from London to Hereford. Despite this it is still worth these effort. The drive takes you through Cheltenham. This is a town I have only visited when racing is on. Today was the first time I had passed through on a working day. It has to be said that it is a lot less charming than during the festival. This is especially the contrast as you drive through town by following the A40. Here you go past the famous Cheltenham College and before long you drive through a comparatively run down area.

There are only two roads to remember on this route they are the A40 and the A49 so even I couldn’t get lost. Once on the A49 you will go along the Wye Valley which is picturesque. Hereford itself is a good size market town in the very agriculture driven region. The drive through to get to the racecourse which is to the north of the town means you go along Edgar Street passing the famous Hereford United football ground home of one of the mast memorable football matches when the non league dumped the Fancy Dans from Newcastle out of the FA Cup along with their England international centre forward Malcolm MacDonald. As you head north from here signs for the racecourse become more evident and soon you reach a roundabout where the right hand turn takes you to the track. Getting to the course from the north via the A49 is a lot easier as there is no need to go through the town.


Hereford is pretty well a right handed square with minor undulations. However it takes a bit of riding and the run in from the final turn is very short with just the one jump. It looked like you needed to be well positioned coming to two out to have any change. Nothing made ground from off the pace after this point. Most races seemed to be run at a moderate pave until entering the back straight which is around four out. The fences looked modest with few mistakes and the fallers in the novice handicap chase were very poor so it could hardly be a pointer to the stiffness of the fence.

The course is run by the same organisation as Uttoxeter and the professionalism shows. The branding is similar and is a neat racecourse. The crowd was large for a mid-week fixture. It maybe school time but the last couple of races attended have been decent crowds which makes you think either the recession hasn’t hit yet or that racing is going to be strong despite the hard times ahead. The expansive lawns on slightly raised ground make this a good viewing track and an open policy makes moving from one enclosure to another easy. The view of the final fence is good with a stand sited opposite. There is a picnic area which is before the bend out of the home straight where you can park a car. This is where I would normally head for but I fancied a change and opted for the enclosures for a change today. Parking elsewhere is pretty good and free.

Like most tracks it does offer opportunities for specific horses. Hereford being a right handed track with the emphasis on keeping up with the pace and having some undulations make it different to most. It is also one where the uphill sections are in areas where a horse can have a breather  this then means that the downhill from 3 out to the home straight put an emphasis on speed rather than stamina. When I was here in 2009 there was one course specialist who exemplifies the statement regarding the course. He came to Hereford having won three times here ran in the three mile plus handicap chase is worth looking at to demonstrate the speed element of this course. His form did not suggest he would easily get the trip as all the wins had been over a shorter distance. He was up with the pace for most of the race, generally leading and was one of two that pulled clear. Although beaten into second he stayed the trip here.


In 2009 when I came here soon after the national local handler Venetia Williams bought her national hero to the track. After Mon Mone was introduced to the throng the following race was a seller and the winning horse was ridden by Liam Treadwell. The commentator probably had rehearsed for this moment as coming to the last and clear  he trumpeted ‘ … and over the last comes Liam Treadwell grand national winners or selling hurdle victories they all come the same to this great prospect’, or words to that effect. I bet he dreaded what to say if he had pitched on landed and unseated.

The final race that day was the maiden hurdle. In this race was a very talented staying flat horse called Greenwich Meantime. I had seen him win the Chester Cup which is a race which takes some winning. He was up against some fairly useful sorts. Despite that it appeared that he was clearly head and shoulders above the rest on class, looked well and had made a promising debut where his hurdling was less than fluent. So the question was can the class horse brush up enough on his hurdling to beat others who appear to be more natural jumpers. The answer was; no he couldn’t. Despite in general hurdling ok he ‘missed’ 4 out when the pace was upped, collided with the horse adjacent and never recovered. The winner called The Treacle Eater hurdled well and kicked clear before 2 out. The clear message was when assessing a race over the sticks class amounts to little if the horse cannot hurdle or jump fluently.

The first race back in 2009 was won by Harry Skelton whose son is the famous show jumper. I have seen him a few times and he looks very useful well worth his claim. In fact the trend recently has been the amount of good prospects around such as Rhys Flint, Aiden Coleman and Danny Cooke. In the past I have tended to dismiss five and seven pound claimers as being in the sack of spuds category. However there appears to be significant improvement in comparison to years gone by with many of these lads well worth their claim.  One interesting aspect of that card was several Irish horses were entered. These were in the handicaps and the seller. Generally in the past a horse sent a long distance would command a second look. An Irish horse sent over to run in a modest seller would have set alarm bells ringing. However none of them appeared to be well backed and none of them got anywhere near winning. I think the travel factor has been eroded as a point of reference. In the distant past this would have been one of the golden rules. Another was to look to see if the horse was plated up. It was thought that aluminium plates were expensive and weaker than iron but were so much lighter as to provide an advantage for the horse. It was relatively easy to spot the plates as they shone much more than the relatively duller iron ones. However it is so rare to see plates other than aluminium ones that it’s hardly worth making a note. Another rule dissolved. In terms of travelling it could well be that owning a racehorse does not deter sending it great distances to race if it gets a run into the horse even if it hasn’t been laid out for that particular race.

But will the testing times we are set for over the next couple of years or so change this. Will the development of the old fashioned gambling stable return. I think it will. Despite all the controls out there in terms of vigilance and rules there are gaps. There are opportunities. The task is to try to spot how the gambling stables operate and even who they are. Desperate owners and trainers will be scrapping for the inches to enable the scoped to be successful. This is the same in business. Scrapping for inches trying to differentiate coming up with that new way to get ahead and keep ahead. This will be the new environment. In general there has been 10 years of easy meat under labour with overheating financial, property and consumer markets propped up by overheated labour market and freedom to easy borrowing. That model has changed and with it a far more competitive market. The next few years new gambling trainers will emerge with new stratagem those that spot what is going on will do well.

As I noted earlier when I was here in 2009 the local Herefordshire trainer Venetia Williams had won The Grand National the previous weekend as only the second women trainer to do so. It is strange to see that the horse training game is still very male dominated whereas the greyhound racing world has long had the likes of Nora McKellistram, Linda Mullens and Carley Philpot at the top of its tree. The local course took the opportunity to present the winning connections to the lord mayor of Hereford. Williams did a good interview, Liam Treadwell the jockey got asked whether winning it was better than sex and the horse paraded in the paddock and on the course.

When Williams trotted through Mon Mome’s CV it made you wonder just why he was 100/1 on the day. One striking observation was that he isn’t all that big looking more like a handicap hurdler than a specialist four and a half mile chaser. What is also well worthwhile pointing out is the enterprise of the Hereford management to spot a good bit of marketing. To bring the stars of the previous Saturday’s high profile race to a local audience. Ask yourself what image would the occasional or first time racegoer at Hereford today go home with? It is long odds on that this would be remembered as the day they saw the Grand National winner in the flesh.

The grumpy quarryman’s award for the most interestingstand name has a good entrant inHereford as one of the stands is named after Colonel Corbett. Here is the one I think it is named in honour of:
Lieutenant-Colonel Uvedale "Streak" Corbett, who has died aged 95, won a DSO in France in 1944 and was elected Conservative MP for Ludlow in the following year.



The Colonel Corbett stand

In August 1944, during the capture and defence of the Orne bridgehead, Corbett, who was by then already a lieutenant-colonel, acted as the Commander Royal Artillery's representative with 176 Infantry Brigade. He occupied an Observation Post in an exposed situation and during the repeated attacks of the 12th SS Panzer Division on the bridgehead, he came under almost continuous artillery and mortar fire.
Finding that he required a better view, Corbett climbed on to the top of his vehicle in the open and continued to direct the fire of the divisional artillery with complete disregard for the enemy shelling.
He was awarded an immediate DSO.
Uvedale Corbett was born near Shrewsbury on September 12 1909 and educated at Wellington before going to the RMA, Woolwich. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1929 and subsequently attended the Equitation School at Weedon.
It was compulsory to hunt five days a week and, on one occasion, Corbett was hauled up in front of his commanding officer for missing a day. His plea in mitigation, that he had gone racing instead, was accepted, albeit with some reluctance.
It was at Weedon that he acquired his nickname. He was unable to resist a flutter on the horses and sometimes bet more than was prudent on a subaltern's pay. His fellow officers described him as a "long streak of misery" when his horse was pipped at the post. At the end of the course, however, he passed out top and was awarded the Sword of Honour.
After serving with the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) at Newport, Monmouthshire, Corbett was posted to India for a spell, before returning to England and joining 149 Regiment RA. He commanded 432 Battery and swiftly acquired a reputation as an outstanding trainer.
In 1942, Corbett took charge of 141 Field Regiment RA (Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry) TA, before assuming command of 116 Field Regiment RA in Normandy in July 1944. Early in 1945, he took command of 3 RHA and served with this unit until the end of the campaign in north-west Europe.
Corbett was determined to leave the Army as soon as the war ended and he obtained an automatic discharge by standing as Conservative candidate for the Ludlow Division. He became an MP in the (Labour landslide) general election in 1945 and held the seat for six years.
Corbett then decided to devote himself to farming in Herefordshire. He subsequently co-founded the West Midlands Broiler Hatchery and built a new hatchery north of Hereford.
The broiler industry expanded fast and in 1960, together with a group of breeders and growers, he founded Sun Valley Poultry. By the end of the following year, its new purpose-built factory was processing 50,000 birds a week.
Union International, a company owned by the Vestey family, purchased a half share and by the 1970s Sun Valley Poultry was a leader in its field. Corbett was a talented judge of people and liked to bring ex-Army officers into his team. He did not baulk at giving hitch-hikers a lift and more than one owed a long career at Sun Valley to such a chance encounter.
When the economic climate deteriorated, the company ran into serious cash flow problems; but the relationships that Corbett had forged with Marcus Sieff and Michael Sacher of Marks and Spencer resulted in a rescue operation that enabled Sun Valley Poultry to retain much of its independence.
In 1980 Sun Valley Poultry was sold to Cargills, a large American private company, but Corbett stayed on as chairman for another three years before retiring.
He was appointed CBE in 1984 in recognition of his work for the poultry industry.
Streak Corbett enjoyed hunting and was an excellent shot. He also devoted more than 30 years to establishing an arboretum at Shobdon, in Herefordshire.
Racing, too, remained an important part of his life, and he had some remarkable coups against the bookmakers. On the occasions that he went home lighter in pocket he consoled himself and his friends with a bottle of Champagne.
Shortly after the war, he attended Goodwood week - and by the second day he had made enough money to educate his three children privately. By the end of the meeting, however, the bookies had come out on top.
He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Hereford and Worcester in 1983.
Streak Corbett died on September 1. He married first, in 1935 (dissolved 1952), Veronica Whitehead. He married secondly, in 1953, Patricia Jane Walker, who died in 1985. He married thirdly, in 1987, Peggy Roberts, who died in 1997. He is survived by two sons and a daughter of his first marriage.


Today's Racing

Race 1 class 5 handicap hurdle 2m1; Good hold up ride by Hadden Frost. Rolanta made smooth progress from 3 out to lead on the run in for a well earned victory. All wins have come on square right handers on  goodish ground so a clue there maybe to the future. Second was Cruise In Style who held every chance till mistake two out but battled on again to get second. Fair run. Mr Bachster is a consistent hurdler in this class but is a little one paced and finished third after trying to make most. Cider Lolly was prominent throughout and ran a fair race. Aughcarra made a few mistakes and was never near enough to challenge. Eyecatcher on a positive note was sixth home Marju King who was staying on very well without getting too hard a time of it. Not exposed at all as this is his fifth race over hurdles, racing off 94 looks a good mark, has won 12f on flat, always held up and stays on, much better hurdling effort today. Is out of the same line as an Italian St Leger winner so has stamina and by a son of Last Tycoon which is no bad thing for a hurdler. All in all he needs to be ridden closer to the pace or in a muddling race where he can be held up. There were plenty in the race today to be covered up but they did get a bit strung out. Well capable of winning a novice handicap.



Over the last and Mr bachster (yellow ) is about to be sqallowed up by winner Rolanta (green) a couple of scruffy landins clearly seen here

Race 2 a fillies’ juvenile hurdle over 2m1. The winner was the Alan King debutante Reyamour who was the 6/4 favourite on the back of some good reports from the stable gallops. Looked a bit behind in the paddock suggesting strongly that she would be all the better for the run. Ran a bit green, held up in mid division but made smooth progress to challenge at the last and then just get up. Looked a bit awkward but I think that was lack of experience and I think she looks a useful filly who is a positive from the race. She also had the leader Belleau fall when she was upsides which didn’t help her cause much.  Has a super middle distance pedigree and looks to be a brood of the future. Should stay further than this and no reason why cannot run well over 2m4. Captain Sharpe was a winner already and looking fit and well ran another sound race battling on to give the favourite a tough race. The pair were clear emphasising the quality of the winner. Captain Sharpe will continue to act as a benchmark but may find winning again difficult until handicapping. Captain Loui looked dull in his coat but was fit enough. Ran well for a distance third having held every chance two out; made a mistake at the last.   Gud Day looked well in the paddock and was a touch unlucky today as was hampered when long term leader Belleau fell in front of her two out. Stayed on for fourth but chance had gone. Flat form suggests suited by stiff right handers and those two wins were at Leicester so keep an eye out for a suitable race there for her as she has enough ability to pick up a small event. Of the rest Now At Last was not fluent and any case looks more a chasing type, Maratib looked tetchy in the paddock and was soon tailed off,  Our Folly was held up well of the pace and did stay on a bit from about 2 out promising, Umorustic looked in fair nick before was prominent until falling down a hole around halfway. Sing The Praises looked in very well before hand but was green in the extreme even jumping over a path across the course (never the best sign) clearly useless.



Belleau (noseband) led for much till fallingand heads Umoristic with a circuit to go. Sixth (red with white cap) is Reyamour who won despite running very green


Race 3 was a mares handicap chase class 4 over 2m5. First thing to say is that they looked a decent field of mares all looking in very good condition. It was won by Way Back When who jumped well in the main to claim first chase at only the second time of asking. The positive was runner up Daneva who made very smooth headway from 4 out and challenged the winner all the way down the home straight to fail by just over a length. Has the old stringhalt walk thing going on. There is an explanation of the condition at the end of the racing section as I am sure you are frantic for it now. The pair were clear. Playing With Fire finished a remote third having made a right hash of the second last but was probably well beaten at that stage in any case. Favourite Kings Queen raced fine until missed out the third last and never recovered.



Daneva (light blue) taking a fence at halfway en route to an encouraging run

Race 4 was the feature Herefordshire Growing Point novices’ limited handicap chase set at class 3 level over 2m6. This was the aforementioned noble challenge to enhance disabled peoples life using the media of growing plants. There were only three finishers out of seven. Well fancied Nicholls new inmate from Howard Johnsons demise was Doeslessthanme. Never fluent, jumped out to the left on occasions and not unexpectedly clobbered one too many and unshipped Daryl Jacob at the tenth. On this showing it is going to take a very long time to put right so much which is wrong so I have to have him down as a negative going forward. The winner in very fine order and completing a King / Thornton treble in the form of Invictus who despite being obstructed by the fallen Doeslessthanme managed to avoid whithout losing momentum. Soon in charge and by the second last there was not much hope for anyone who had laid this very decent novice. I think he is a positive and will win again even if asked to shoulder a penalty. Won his only point, not too bad over timber winning at Ascot but looks an even better prospect over the larger obstacles when winning at first time of asking. A definite positive as has the ability to carry a penalty and looks sort to do well over enen further as can be expected to stay three miles. Of the other Sherwani Wolf made a mistake at a vital time in the race but was still good enough to be second, Pyracantha tried to make all but was seen off to be the last of the finishers. Present To You finished lame. Get It On was travelling well when fell three out having previously done well over the fences at tight tracks so disappointing not to see him finish.  Not a positive but I would have a crafty look at him next run.



Invictus winning in impressive if nearly unrecognisable style

Race 5 was a novice handicap hurdle over 2m4. It was a good race between What An Oscar (confidently ridden by Sam Twiston-Daview who made all and always seemed to have a bit more up his sleeve when attacked) and Briefcase (given every chance by Con O’Farrell but could not get enough going to worry the winner. No wins but running style suggests could be better suited by 3 miles. Infuriating to back as has been second in three of last four runs. I would love to see him win but he looks unlucky and one paced. Of the others Reginaldinho (cannot  hurdle to save his life based on today where he looked like he had some pace but cannot hurdle at top pace), Runaway Henry (was restrained and tried to get into the race around halfway but soon weakened right out of it) and Hard Tackle (never seemed to be travelling smoothly and was tailed off from just past halfway).



Winner What An Oscar (crossbelts) desputes with ultimate runner up Briefcase (red / green) as an early stage of the race

Race 6  2m novice handicap chase set at class 5 level. It was won in an absolute canter by Alpha Way who basically made all and after quickly drawing clear maintained this advantage. This german bred was undistinguished between the flags. Not that much better in bumpers and in his initial three novice hurdle races. No real sign of anything in the near future must have been the call when he finished in a different parish on handicap chase debut. The favourite Bay Central was very short at 5/4. Was second but not looking like catching the winner when unshipped 3 out. The Grey One had eventually won a chase last run after eleven efforts half of which he had finished in the first two. Not that straightforward and seems to be a bit hit and miss at his fences which was the analysis of his appointment today.


Race 7 and final race was a 2m1 bumper. It was won by Bonne Fee on Jason Maguire’s first ride back after the horrendous injury a few months back... and what a race to bounce back on. Bred for further and stamina was the chief attribute which enabled  a victory as he ran on from a restrained position to collar the leader on the line.  Runner up was the 3/1 favourite Emily’s Flyer who tried to hold back the tied of competitors when he led from three out. A good run but not sure this event will amount to much of the others the third home Petrarchic had on the face of it over exaggerated waiting tactics but when set about his business stayed on well from a hopeless position. He was an expensive yearling but has not lived up to that promise. Easter Dancer had a chance but failed to quicken. All in all a pretty nonedescript bumper I am afraid.

Notebook

Marju King (P) UP £35
B 1 9/2
Only got as far as he second next time when unluckily bought down. Next run was when forcing the pace and then very easily winning and as long as mark does not go up too far can win again

Reyamour (P)down £10
0
Very disappointing next run cannot believe that is her form and perhas the run came too quick or Leicester is a stiff test and she prefers something easier

Davena (P)




Doeslessthanme (N) up £10
2
blundered any chance away and still not confident that he has brushed up on his jumping

Invictus (P) up £17.50
1 7/4
ran up his nattrick with another impressive win this time at Plumpton


‘Stringhalt is a myoclonic affliction of one or both hindlimbs seen as spasmodic overflexion of the joints. The etiology is unknown, but lesions of a peripheral neuropathy have been identified in the sciatic, peroneal, and tibial nerves. Severe forms of the condition have been attributed to lathyrism (sweet pea poisoning) in the USA and possibly to flat weed intoxication in Australia. Horses of any breed may be affected; it is rare in foals.
All degrees of hyperflexion are seen, from the mild, spasmodic lifting and grounding of the foot, to the extreme case in which the foot is drawn sharply up until it touches the belly and is then struck violently on the ground. In severe cases, there is atrophy of the lateral thigh muscles. In Australian stringhalt and lathyrism, the condition may be progressive, and the gait abnormality may become so severe that euthanasia is warranted.
Mild stringhalt may be intermittent. The signs are most obvious when the horse is sharply turned or backed. In some cases, the condition is seen only on the first few steps after moving the horse out of its stall. The signs are often less intense or even absent during warmer weather. Although it is regarded as unsoundness, stringhalt may not materially hinder the horse’s ability to work, except in severe cases when the constant concussion gives rise to secondary complications. The condition may also make the horse unsuitable for equestrian sports (eg, dressage).
Diagnosis is based on clinical signs but can be confirmed by electromyography. If the diagnosis is in doubt, the horse should be observed as it is backed out of the stall after hard work for 1-2 days. False stringhalt sometimes appears as a result of some temporary irritation to the lower pastern area or even a painful lesion in the foot. The occasional horse with momentary upward fixation of the patella may exhibit a stringhalt-like gait.’
When intoxication is suspected, removal to another paddock may be all that is required. Many of these cases apparently recover spontaneously. In chronic cases, tenectomy of the lateral extensor of the digit, including removal of a portion of the muscle, has given best results. Improvement may not be evident until 2-3 wk after surgery. Prognosis after surgery is guarded—not all cases respond. This is not surprising because the condition is a distal axonopathy. Other methods of treatment include large doses of thiamine and phenytoin.