COURSE officials had to make the decision whether to run the Hurworth Point to Point on the morning of the event - at 7.45am to be precise!

The venue was Skutterskelfe Park, Hutton Rudby, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Colin Tunnicliffe. Although we had had relatively good weather and very little rain in the last fortnight, the ground was still showing the effects of previous rains and was very soft in places.

It was nerve racking not just for me as this was the event focus this month, but for the owners and riders who had to wait to decide whether to truck their horses there or not. For some who were coming from further a field the decision was easy: don't come.

An estimated 2,000 spectators filled the bank that overlooks the course on an absolutely glorious spring day, with a long row of bookies and a huge beer and food tent separating the car park from the spectators.

The going was officially good, but it was soft in places claiming one course casualty, fence number eight the open ditch. This was omitted from the track, as the ground was just too soft at take off.

The first fence was the only one to be jumped once, with fence seven (on the first circuit) and 14 (on the second circuit) being jumped twice, the remaining five fences were jumped three times on three different circuits. Basically, it is a short course made longer by repeated circuits. The course is flat with a sharp uphill finish heading towards the car park which was off putting for some horses, particularly the mount of Ben Woodhouse, Just a Man, in the second race.

He had a clear six length lead coming into the last fence, which when he jumped he rattled hard. The thought of racing away from the boxes up a steep hill was too much, he simply stopped racing and finished last. Although the form guide described Just a Man as a horse that "often finishes weakly", I felt that this wasn't totally his fault on this occasion.

Ben Woodhouse is a very experienced and well-respected jockey and the combination of a "weak finisher" and the geographical situation of the course finishing line were not in his favour.

On this occasion the course proved not be the right one for this horse. Judging by the way it ran prior to this little incident, he is still one to look out for in the future - he might surprise a few people.

The first race of the day was the Members' Race, sponsored by the friends of the late Philip Lawson and Tim Simpson, with five runners going to post. Maitre De Musique, winner of the same race last year crossed the finish line winning again by two and a half lengths ahead of second placed Ginger Biscuit and Profiler. The winning time was 7.02 minutes proving that this was indeed a long testing course.

Whilst horses were parading in the paddock for the second race Huntsman Joe Townsend and whipper-in David Foster paraded hounds before the huge crowds to massive cheers of support. The atmosphere was emotionally charged.

There was quite a start for the second race, The Barkers of Northallerton Restricted Race, this time with 11 horses going to post. Mr Sonshine lead from the flag for most of the race ending up in third position behind Snizort and the winner Orleans owned by Simon Robinson of Classic Cars in Darlington. Orleans ran a great race keeping a steady pace midfield steadily creeping up through the placings. Just a Man led by six lengths at the last but gave the race away as aforementioned.

The third race was the Ladies Open sponsored by Oaklands veterinarian practice. Six horses started and five finished with the late starter Little Santa, who was never even in the race, pulling up after one circuit. The race was between the two favourites San Francisco and Ikdam Melody who ran head to head for most of the course. Third placed Emperor's Son ridden by Serena Brotherton looked to challenge them but the pace proved too much and Jo Foster got Ikdam Melody to open up on the flat giving her the race in 6.49 seconds, four lengths ahead of San Francisco.

The fourth race, the Men's Open, was just that, a very disappointing field of only four riders going to post. Chaos Theory won this time after coming second at Witton back in February, 12 lengths ahead of second placed Scenic Storm and Ben From Ketton who ran third.

The North Yorkshire Polymers Confined Hunts Race, and the best race of the day went to Serena Brotherton and Mister Bromley, who ran superbly yet again. Having watched this impressive duo at Witton, I felt for sure that this race was theirs, even though Busted Flat looked the better of the two for a while. Mister Bromley guided brilliantly by Serena made his move two from home and won comfortably by two and a half lengths from Busted Flat and the third place runner Max's Micro. Ten horses started the race but only four finished, (the forth horse being Ptah) resulting in a lot of unhappy punters complaining about the ride giving. Quite rightly the stewards failed to see anything wrong and the placings stood firm with Serena holding her well-deserved trophy up high.

The slowest race of the day was the Robinson Brothers Open Maiden Race Division 1, won in 7.47 minutes by Dayenoo, ahead of Oaklands Ted; Division 2, sponsored by A W Brown Haulage, was won by a local Hurworth horse, Queenies Girl: and finally Division 3, the Geoffrey Robinson Ltd Open Maiden, went impressively to another local horse Been Here Before, who, after sitting at the back, pushed forward with a strong drive under jockey Miss Jackson, taking the line ahead of Coverdale and Mistermagicman.

There is talk about Point to Points being run at the start of the hunting season as well as at the end. If this is the case the Hurworth has a great venue with a great and experienced team of people to make this one of the most popular events on the Northern calendar.

Published: 01/04/2005