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Kington Races

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After a week of glorious sunshine the long established Kington & Vale of Arrow race meeting at Evenjobb had disappointing weather, but although this affected the crowd the day was better than forecast, with a damp rather than saturated afternoon. Although the temperature was cold, the racing was hot enough, with the finals especially providing tight finishes to keep the judges warm and the cameraman busy.

Golden Nugget (Gwatkin, Evenjobb) confirmed his last week’s form by registering another win in the first Nursery race, beating Abernant (Greenway/Hardwick) and Seren Penlan (R Lloyd, Painscastle). In the second race Glan Levit (Evans, Talgarreg) notched up another good performance to pass the winning post in front of Dragon Fly (Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey) and Ithon Gypsy (Jones, Llanbister). Both Golden Nugget and Glan Levit will now move into the Baby Novice to begin their racing careers.

The novice races were the first races for the punters and these are always popular races as the young horses with some experience, but still retaining the exuberance of youth, often provide enthralling races and this was certainly the case on Saturday. In the first heat the supremely talented Hasty Flight (Williams Llanfan) ran like clockwork for his driver Derek Pritchard beating the always impressive My Immortal (Evans, Brecon) with last week’s winner Forgeside Mo (Bird Ludlow) in third. Another exciting prospect for the future is Ithon Eagle (Edwards, Bromfield) who put in a good performance to take the second novice heat, with the improving Duggan’s Domino (Gwatkin, Evenjobb) following and East of Eden (Pritchard, Rhosgoch) in third.

Bon Beti (Evans-Jones, Rhymney) is another horse who is improving week on week and to prove it she registered her first win of the season in the Grade B heat while last week’s winner Forgeside Jack (Walker, Gwernogle) had to make do with second and Family Circle (Barton, Clunderwen) ran well to be third. In the second heat the old warrior Scoot 66 (Bevan, Llanddewi) showed that at 12 years old he has lost none of his ability to win races beating the talented Maple Star (Prosser, Libanus) with Vyrnwy Chef (Barton, Clunderwen) claiming third.

The first Grade A heat produced a well deserved win for Wellfield Xpense (Langford, Ludlow) with Vodka Express (Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey) just failing to compensate for his 30 yard handicap, claimed second while Merrington Man (Thomas, Rhymney) the back marker off 50 yards had to settle for third. Obi-Wan-Kenobi has always been regarded as the star of the Williams stable of Llanafan and took the second heat in fine style beating Purple Rain (Edwards, Bromfield) into second Ithon Ace (Williams, Shrewsbury) third while the ever popular Boomerang (Peters, Welshpool) scraped into the final as fastest fourth.

After a short break when the ‘100 club’ was drawn the Baby Novices took up their positions. The first race was won by the impressive Man of the Day (Harries, Llanllwni) rewarding his connections for the long journey from ‘Cardiland’. In second was Fold American (Perks, Presteigne) on his first run in front of the punters, he looks sure to be on his way up through the grades very soon, while Glan Minstrel (Jones, Talgarreg) was third. The grey Alpine Heights (Ladek, Cleobury Mortimer) claimed his first victory in competitive racing with Classic Man (Langford, Ammanford) in second and Ynyston Tommy (Isaacs, Ystrad Meurig) in third. Ithon Express (Bevan, Builth) was the victor in the third part, this is another horse ready to make his name in local racing, with Greenhill Raque (Thomas, Rhymney) in second and Sunnyside Geoff (Clark Brecon) in third. Both Man of the Day and Ithon Express now progress to the Novices.

The mile and a half race was the next on the card, this was once the standard race in Wales and it introduces variety into the racing with both horses and drivers needing to pace themselves for the distance. Neil Edmunds from Porthcawl, part time commentator has handed the microphone to Ritchie Evans but his interest in the sport is not peripheral; he took up the drive on his father’s Mahogany Duke and proved he is not ‘all talk’ as they secured a narrow victory from the favourite Bon Bethan (Weigel Llanddewi Velfrey) with Live the Dream (Langford, Ammanford) in third.

The finals were the climax of the day’s racing with the Novice providing some early drama. After two false starts these young horses were away but there was a groan from the crowd as they saw the favourite Hasty Flight refusing to settle. However as the race progressed the crowd watched with fascination as this well named young horse began to make up seemingly impossible ground, he caught up the trailing horse, he pulled out to overtake, and then as he swept to the front the groans changed to cheers. There is much competition in the Llanafan stable where Helen Williams oversees the operation, and concentrates on Obi-Wan-Kenobi, but it is the Jones girls, Lindsey and Llinos (no relation) who look after Hasty Flight and it looks like the stable may well have another star to rank alongside his illustrious stable companion. The bemused crowd looked on as Ithon Eagle (Edwards, Bromfield) came in second with Duggan’s Domino (Gwatkin, Evenjobb) in third.

It looked unlikely that the Grade B final could equal the previous race however it provided a blanket finish, sending the judges to call for the camera and again the favourite got the verdict as the ever popular Scoot 66 made it a day to remember for the Bevan family from Llanddewi, the other heat winner Bon Beti (Evans-Jones, Rhymney) was second while dependable Family Circle (Barton Clunderwen) was third.

The discussion at the start of the Grade A final was whether Derek Pritchard could add to his day’s tally of five winners when he partnered Obi-Wan-Kenobi (Williams Llanafan). The pace was fast and furious with several laying claim to the lead but it was the people’s much loved gelding, the indomitable Boomerang owned, trained and driven by Alan Peters one of the most popular men in racing who the camera showed was first past the post, in second was his great friend Stephen Williams from Shrewsbury on the likeable Ithon Ace while Obi-Wan-Kenobi was third.

So ended a cold but exciting day of racing, not only was the fixture fortunate to escape the worst of the weather as other events were cancelled, it was just reward for those who take their sport seriously and go racing come rain or shine. The next event on the calendar is on Saturday June 13th at Tairgwaith near Ammanford with a 2 pm start.

Detailed Results