POINT-TO-POINT 2012-2013: SEEKING DIVINE INTAVENTION AND TWO CONSTABLES

BLACK FOREST CLUB

Black Forest Lodge (RH 8F, 19J)

Sun, 2 Dec 2012 (Good to soft)

There were certainly still signs of what had gone before - a closure still in place on the road that circumnavigates the back of the nearby Powderham estate, for one.  All in all, however, the Black Forest Lodge of this week was a far drier proposition than that of just seven days ago, for all that this delayed start to the Devon & Cornwall Area season was played out in wet, gloomy conditions for the greater part.

Not that Black Forest Lodge had failed by much to beat the weather a week earlier, of course.  Only the overwhelming of a solitary drain on the final bend into the home turn stood between the course and its usual, programmed resumption of duties, and this area had dried out well enough in the meantime as to be indistinguishable going-wise from anywhere else on the circuit - no patchy, mixed ground here.

Gloom takes on all forms, though, and sadly on this occasion that wasn't limited to the  non-weather variety.  Word reached your writer during the course of the afternoon that both Stewart Pike (of Proud Sun and Sidbury Hill fame) and Ashley Farrant had quit the training ranks of Pointing close-season, and also that the Western Daily Press had brought its hitherto very satisfactory near-weekly coverage of the sport to an abrupt halt.  One has to hope the latter isn't symptomatic of a wider national trend, but as local press budgets for copy run ever shallower, the likelihood of other scenarios playing out elsewhere in Britain can't be ruled out.

On the face of it the gloom could have extended to the faces of the meeting executive.   Attendance of punters, usually pretty decent at this contest, was as depleted as may be expected for a rescheduled  fixture; whilst the initial entry of horses necessarily had to stand at its paltry 51 (comprising 50 individual horses), down almost 60% on the corresponding fixture's 128 entrants of a year earlier and too few for the usual proliferation of divisions of the five programmed races to arise.  

Those connections who had entered to race had every intention of racing, though, and a turnout of 40 runners on the day amounted to a hugely impressive runners-to-participation conversion rate of around 80%.  Few other meetings will achieve similar all season, and almost certainly no rescheduled ones.

RACE ONE: 2m4f 4-5yo OPEN MAIDEN

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The day's shortest race also proved to be that won mot emphatically, as THE WEALERDEALER put well behind him last season's mishaps - from falling and staying down for a while with a Trebudannon contest virtually won, to junking two other probable victories through errant late behaviour - with some ease.  Notably travelling best of anything when sent to within a length of the leader four out, it required no great effort from National Mens' Champion Will Biddick to get the Vinnine Roe gelding to the head of affairs with two to jump, and less till to keep him there.  

Some more evidence that Keith Cumings' charge is completely over his more wayward tendencies (in the hope that they were just a manifestation of immaturity) would be appreciated, especially having come under no sort of pressure whatsoever here.  If he is, he should have a fair bit to offer the game on this showing.

BALLYTHOMAS offered zero in one Irish Point and a Newton Abbot bumper previously, but ran well above market expectations here, for all that he'd just been headed by the better-travelling winner when crashing through two out.  Quite well put in his place ultimately, a bit more will be needed before he rates a winning proposition.

Longer term, VOLIO VINCENTE may actually prove to be one of the two most gifted runners in this line-up (along with the winner), but a number of stuttering leaps and a wider course taken than by most gave him scant opportunity to prove as much.  Already a 1l second over the full trip in Ireland, a return to 3m looks an urgent requirement, too.

This 29l fourth represents a personal best for PASTERNAK JACK in seven starts between the flags, but it's not the form of a winner in waiting.

DRIFTWOOD PRIDE, representing last season's winning connections, shaped with conspicuous promise in a Flete Park short Maiden last April, but this fading effort constituted something of a step backwards.  The only four-year-old in the line-up, it's to be hoped that this string-looking type is still on the weak side, rather than his absence since that debut perhaps telling a tale.  He's worth according the benefit of the doubt for the now.

BEINN AD TIGER, representing the Fred Hutsby yard which has enjoyed its share of early-season strikes at this corresponding fixture, finally secure the lead five out but turned to water immediately after being headed a fence later.  On the face of it this pulling up on racecourse debut leaves him with something to prove, though in mitigation maybe the cumulative effect of several sketchy early leaps simply caught up with him.

RACE TWO: BLACK FOREST CLUB NOVICE RIDERS

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A pretty well-run affair early on always looked in the offing despite the small field, with Oakfield Legend's intentions long since clear in chases and Points and Hazeldene's most common strategy under Rules persevered with on this debut between the flags.

It looked a good pace to decline, therefore, and first-time rider Charlie Hammon did just that aboard TIMESHIFT, remaining content to spot the leaders around 15l embarking on the final circuit but sent to within a couple of the pacesetters soon after the last of the uphill fences (five out).  It looked a case of "how far" once heading Oakfield Legend after three out, but Hammond wasn't needlessly aggressive in a winning cause and the eventual margin of three and a half lengths flatters the runner-up.

The Don Constable-owned eight-year-old is quite likely better than this grade but can put in some inexplicably poor performances inamongst his better efforts (as evidenced by a 2011-12 form return of P1P2P, the last pulling-up of which came in a match on his Open-class debut at Eyton-on-Severn), tempering confidence in this being the season in which he could finally run up a lasting sequence of wins.

One-time Grand Military Gold Cup hero OAKFIELD LEGEND can be softened up obligingly if taken on for the lead, though the fact that at least one of his Rules victories was gained despite the initial attentions of a fellow pace influence means things aren't entirely as simple as taking him on if there's another front-runner in opposition.  Either way, there wasn't too much about this effort to suggest his powers have especially dimmed close-season, and Conor Flint can have some fun with him mopping up more Novice Rider events nearer home when there's enough in his favour.

HAZELDENE hadn't been sent over this far since March 2008 in an extensive Rules career first for the Charltons (who bred him) and latterly Tim Vaughan.  Then, as now, his front-running tendencies were stuck with despite the trip, though the effects of the duel with Oakfield Legend do for the time being fudge the issue as to whether he can last 3m from the front end nowadays.  More evidence is needed, though on another matter his partner Charlie Deutsch does look fairly accomplished for his years (and proved as much again in landing a Folkestone amateur riders' hurdle two days after this).

Nick Lawton didn't stay on board CELEBRITY CALL very long when taking on Saint Romble in a match for their Members at Holnicote last May, and this time his luck finally ran out after a couple of earlier hairy moments four from home this time.

ALL THYNE GREATS' completion was at least an improvement on 2011-12's two efforts, but this wasn't the performance of a winner in waiting.

DOLLYDO, a 7l Ffos Las second to Rumbury Grey - though value for a wider margin defeat - when last seen in March, was already coming under a ride when falling with terminal consequences seven out.

 

RACE THREE: RESTRICTED

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This didn't look an especially deep race beforehand and winning rider Ian Chanin had expected as much, and his reasoning that the taking of entries for two Restricteds on the same day would lead to small take-ups in that grade of race at both Cottenham and here proved well-founded.  "You don't pass up on a six-runner Restricted", he explained afterwards.

That logic still had to be backed up by a win for his father Robert's MOLLAND GAYLE to be worth anything to him, however, and winning had been a habit the mare had found elusive until her thirteenth Pointing start right at the end of last season.  A follow-up to that Bratton Down score was gained here, though, and possibly with a degree more in hand than the final margin implies given a few errors on the way round had to be shrugged off.

Neither the course orientation nor the ground was thought to suit her either, suggesting a little more could yet be eked out of her going back anticlockwise; though this less-favoured right-hand track may have to be put up with again first of all, given a tilt at her Members race at the Silverton fixture back here next month is under consideration.

SANTIAGO SUN hadn't proven entirely fluent in breaking his Maiden in Irish Point at the fifth attempt last February, and on this first run since then the errors just started to creep in again when they were least required.  Both fences 10 and 11 got in his way somewhat, and when the latter - as two out - did so again a circuit later his task became insuperable.  More will be needed in any halfway decent Devon & Cornwall Area Restricted in the immediate term for him to open his account in this country.

BIG TIME BEN, a season's first ride for Gina Andrews despite the action close to home a week earlier, improved a touch on his 26l defeat in this race last year, but his efforts late in a race aren't always the strongest and he again rather faded from the picture from two out here.

TACHBURY is another for whom an escape from Restricted class couldn't be successfully fashioned last term, and this fourth place finish offered little immediate hope of better.

OUR JOE and BURIED GOLD were given ample chance to participate in the race, but each proved less inclined to consider it with each successive attempt at forming a line.  The latter, punted in to 3/1 from a widely available 8/1, had previous in mucking about at the start from last term; whilst the former, a profiteer from others' late mishaps when landing a Irish Maiden, got himself terribly worked up beforehand.

RACE FOUR: MIXED OPEN

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A race which has provided the winner of one of that season's four "Classic" races in 2010-11 and 2011-12, this year's renewal was denuded somewhat by the absence of likely major players Picaroon and Checkerboard.

That simplified the task which lay before DIVINE INTAVENTION in his bid to win the race for a second straight year, but it didn't render it a complete formality, especially with the ground straying further from his optimum with every drop of rain which fell.  Nevertheless, the lead had been secured with just under a circuit to go, and apart from getting a touch tight into seven out the jumping was crisp and accurate (doubtless a relief for all parties, given he fell twice, including once when loose, in the Stratford Foxhunters when last seen).

A winner on his seasonal reappearance three seasons running now, but never before a Pointing winner on good to soft, Fran Moller and Hugh and Guy Wilson's stable star has no grand plans laid out for him, though a defence of his Coronation Cup at Larkhill this midwinter would seem as viable a target as any.

PRINCEFUL's best form during a fitful career for first Venetian and then Evan Williams had latterly been recorded in 2m3f-2m5f chases on ground as easy as today's or preferably worse.  Stamina had to be proven stepped up to 3m for the first time and he looked like he passed that particular test, given his still gaining on the winner up the run-in.  He can be approached with a little more confidence in this sphere now.

One-time Grade 1 juvenile hurdle winner FAASEL has forgotten more than the rest of us will ever know in the seven and a half years since that victory at the highest level, and his fortunes are invariably dependent nowadays on whether he decides to put it all in.  For the time being at least, Pointing appears to amuse enough for him to put in a shift of work, and it was the sharpness of today's test that prevented a closer finish - hardly surprising for a horse who was a close second over the near-3m6f of the bet365 Gold Cup 19 months ago and needed Doncaster's similarly galloping line to record a 3m victory off 137 only this year.  

On loan to Ken, John and Michael Heard for a season from David Pipe, the logical Pointing target for him this term is the Eggsford four-miler, held at the Heards' own venue of Upcott Cross every spring.

PADDY THE OSCAR's last Pointing outing in December 2010 saw him take an Irish geldings' Maiden for seven-year-olds, and this stiffer company did look a little taxing for him, notwithstanding a win in a Thurles beginners' chase in the interim.  Deeper ground may help level the playing field at bit for him, though, having done so in Ireland.

BALLABROOK wouldn't be the classiest ex-Donald McCain charge in circulation right now, and an initial foray into hunter chasing last April was hardly an unqualified success.  It's a shame his race here ended three out, though, as the jumping had otherwise held together much better than is often the case up to that point.  There's hope yet.

FINDLAY'S FIND was another who jumped better all in all than can sometimes be the case, with a blunder just before halfway the only noticeable mistake.  Travelling-wise, however, the distress signals were out some way from home on the second favourite, and Nick Williams wisely gave up the unequal struggle with three to take.  On the face of it this was a disappointing performance from the 2010-11 Leading Horse, but it must be remembered that this was an uncharacteristically early start to the season for him having never been seen out before February in any of his previous Pointing campaigns.  Subsequent outings ought to confirm whether this run was in actual fact needed.

RACE FIVE: 3m OPEN MAIDEN

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A good day for owner Don Constable and trainer Zoe Hammond became a great one as their British debutant JOE THE TRUCKER, an ex-Irish half-brother to Yorkshire Pointing stalwart Optimistic Harry, ran out victor in the finale despite little about this assignment appearing to suit.

A winning time 18 seconds slower than any other event over the full trip told no lie about the slovenly early fractions, and the winner's getting in too tight to the final fence was surely the result of having to attempt something of a sprint finish from two out - absolutely not by design.  It's true to say that superior cornering at the final bend under Tom David aided his cause, but at the same time the best horse win and justice prevailed.  In common with many Constable-owned first-time winners, Joe The Trucker is now up for sale.

BILLY CONGO, not unbacked beforehand, enjoyed spinning off the bends (including in the lead from halfway) for most of the race, but his was a notably wide course round the turn between four and three out and even more markedly so on the final turn for home.  Those aberrations, allied to a pitch left and mistake two out, suggests it was a lack of a cool head late on and/or under pressure which did for the gelding, rather than any shortcoming of his rider; and in fairness to the five-year-old this would have been the first time in 14 Rules and Point races (all previously in Ireland) that he would still have been this meaningfully involved late on in a race.  Assuming he learns something from it, a small Maiden may yet be within his compass.

QUOTATION MARK fared best of those waited with in a race to which that strategy proved not to be that well suited.  More prominent tactics than this have regularly fallen short previously, though, and no matter what is tried this Posidonas gelding continues to prove incredibly hard to win with (0-22 all told, including 0-16 in British Points).

DEGENERATE was asked to set just a plodding early pace by Josh Guerriero, the rider perhaps mindful of a stamina profile which had enabled his partner to run second in a Newton Abbot bumper previously but failed to get him home over even just 2m4f at Great Trethew on his final 2011-12 start.  In the event horse and rider were hoisted by their own petards, finding others better able to cope with the sprint for home.  Representing Sharon Westwood here, maybe a move to daughter Jess's now Rules-licensed operation to contest 2m hurdles would make more sense.

OLD SHYAN, 10l second in a Stratford handicap chase off 82 when last seen in July (2m4f, good), had forged a regressive profile in a brief Irish Pointing campaign this time last year with 3m seemingly proving increasingly beyond him.  This sharply fading effort didn't offer sufficient immediate hope of better returned to this discipline.

An unseat from GLEANN RI three out, albeit one heavily influenced by the fall of SALUT L'AS, took Joe Ponting's record for the day to an unenviable UFU from three rides.