The West Norfolk Point-To-Point at Fakenham yesterday (Sunday) provided 17 year-old Antonia Peck from Denham near Dalham with a day to remember.
Riding rank outsider Weather Warning for Semer near Hadleigh based trainer Rob Cundy in the Ladies Open, Antonia roused a powerful finish from her mount to collar long odds-on favourite Lough Inch close home.
This was Antonia’s first point-to-point victory on just her fourth ride to add to two winners she has already registered in Arab Racing.
Tim Gredley, the 31-year-old former Great Britain International showjumper from Stetchworth near Newmarket, registered his first Pointing victory aboard the classy Silvergrove at High Easter two weeks earlier. The duo teamed up again to justify short odds in the opening Veteran & Novice Riders Race.
Prolific Timworth near Bury St Edmunds trainer Andrew Pennock enjoyed a treble on this card last year but just managed the one success this time with Mahler’s Spirit who made very short work of his eight rivals in the PPORA Club Members’ Conditions Race.
This was a sixteenth success of the year for the trainer and a hat-trick of victories for the horse adding to a Maiden win at Higham and Restricted Race success at Ampton.
Runner-up to Mahler’s Spirit in that Restricted Race at Ampton was Joan Tice’s homebred mare Teeton Power who gave further credibility to the form when winning the Restricted Race here in ready fashion for Melton Mowbray based trainer Tommy Morgan, thus thwarting Andrew Pennock’s Ampton Maiden winner Royal Chieftain.
Fakenham specialist Master Workman, trained near Thetford by David Kemp, was unable to add to his three course victories in the Mens Open, a contest he won easily last year, as he could not get to grips with Consigliere. Trainer Alan Hill, from Aston Rowant in Oxfordshire, teamed up with his son Joe to record a treble the previous day at Kingston Blount and this success with Consigliere, a tenth career point-to-point win for the horse, made it 18 for the yard for the season as they continue their neck-and-neck Champion Trainer battle with Jack Barber.
The concluding Maiden provided the consistent Le Fou Royal with a narrow but deserved first success for the Badlingham based team of Nick and Archie Wright.
Results
GOING: GOOD
PPORA Club Members’ ( Veteran & Novice Riders)
1st SILVERGROVE (Tim Gredley) 2/7 Fav
2nd Limpopo Tom( Alex Chadwick) 12/1
3rd Festival Bound( Kate Gowing ) 5/2
Time: 6 mins 17 secs Distances: 4L, 4L 4 ran
PPORA Club Members’ Conditions
1st MAHLERS SPIRIT( Evan David ) 1/2 Fav
2nd Virgo The First( Archie Wright ) 8/1
3rdHelpston ( Jack Andrews ) 11/4
Time: No time taken Dists: 15L, 2 ½L 9 ran
Restricted
1st TEETON POWER ( Dale Peters) 5/4 Fav
2nd Royal Chieftan ( Evan David ) 7/4
3rd Sisco Kid ( Jack Andrews ) 5/1
Time: 6-16 Dists: 7L, 5L 7 ran
Mens Open
1st CONSIGLIERE( Joe Hill ) 6/4 Fav
2nd Master Workman ( Shane Roche) 3/1
3rdIt Was Me ( Archie Wright ) 5/2
Time: 6-15 Dists: 6L, Distance 6 ran
Ladies Open
1st WEATHER WARNING ( Antonia Peck ) 33/1
2nd Lough Inch ( Tabitha Worsley ) 1/3 fav
3rd Sa Kaldoun ( Rosie Turner ) 5/1
Time: 6-15 Dists: Neck, Head 6 ran
Open Maiden
1st LE FOU ROYAL( Archie Wright) 6/4 fav
2nd Caryto des Brosses ( Shane Roche ) 5/2
3rd Barrymore Legal ( Charlie Buckle) 7/1
Time: 6-23 Dists: ½L, Distance 8 ran