Plenty of striking fillies on show at Dunstall Park on
Friday evening as the racecourse held its annual Ladies’ Evening meeting. A
card of seven exhilarating races was supplemented by fashion competitions, live
music from tribute band Iconic 80’s and narration throughout by the legendary
Derek Thompson for At the Races.
The first race served up a tricky puzzle for punters to
decipher in the form of an apprentice handicap. Twelve runners lined up along
with some of the top young jockeys in the country ready to take their rides.
The market changed a number of times until Diamond Runner, racing off bottom
weight and with an additional five pounds taken off by the talented Paddy
Pilley, was backed into clear favourite. Charlotte Jenner went straight off into
the lead on Dynamite Dixie, blazing a trail and attempting to steal the race
from the front. However, the horse could not sustain the effort for the whole
trip and weakened three furlongs out, opening the race up for a closer. That
turned out to be the Mark Brisbourne trained gelding Omotesando, initially held
in midfield before a perfectly-timed move by Charlie Bennett to streak past the
front runner, easing towards the end yet still winning by a convincing six
lengths. It was the well-fancied Diamond Runner which finished second, narrowly
beating Joe Doyle on Angels Above.
Next up was a Class 5 maiden, featuring horses trained by
Michael Bell, Andrew Balding and Sir Mark Prescott no less. It was Bell’s
Niblawi that went off as the well-backed even money favourite, this despite
questions over whether the horse was truly progressing having been close but
never quite done enough to win all of its previous races. Quite a strong pace
was set by Dale Swift on Pistyll Rhaeadr, tracked by Robero all the way while
Niblawi was kept in midfield by Louis Steward. With two furlongs left it
appeared for a moment that Robero may struggle for room, but Lemos de Souza
manoeuvred the horse out to take over the lead and kept on to comfortably hold
the favourite for whom the fears of ‘seconditis’ were justified.
A close-knit handicap followed, with a betting market
ranging from 3/1 to 11/1 for a field of seven horses. Five of those had
previous form at Wolverhampton, including last time out winner Idol Deputy as
mentioned on this blog only two weeks or so ago. Once again it was a case of a front
runner setting the pace before being picked off by a late finisher. Phillip
Makin took So It’s War right to the front and it looked like a shrewd move when
still on top with half a furlong left to go. That being said, the gelding
seemed a bit one paced and Racheal Kneller swooped late around the outside
aboard the aforementioned Idol Deputy to win by half a length. It is clear that
the bond between jockey and horse gives rise to a level of intuition that
allows such impeccable judgement and thus booking Kneller to ride is a
no-brainer for trainer James Bennett.
The fourth race was a fillies’ selling stakes, named in
memory of Teja Singh Driver. Emerald Bay was the heavily-backed favourite for
William Haggas, fresh from monumental success at York’s Ebor meeting. In the
famous colours of Cheveley Park Stud, the filly went off at short odds of 8/15.
Rio Deva led, followed through by the favourite and debutant Hobnob, but soon
weakened in the final furlong. It was at this point that Emerald Bay forged
through, keeping on under Graham Gibbons to win relatively easily. Hobnob for
trainer Nick Littmoden looked set to take second place under Wolves stalwart
Luke Morris but Bryan Smart’s Madame Barker fought back to reclaim that spot
for jockey Fergal Lynch. A representative for Haggas made several bids in the
auction in an attempt to retain Emerald Bay, but the horse was bought by
another bidder for 10,000 guineas. Gibbons landed a quick-fire double in the
subsequent race as he bucked the trend for losing front runners aboard Bosham
for Mick Easterby. With only one previous run on the all-weather resulting in a
win at Kempton, a small section of punters, including myself, backed Bosham to
outrun its odds of 11/1. The gelding did just that, making all having been well
clear with two furlongs remaining and keeping on to win by almost four lengths.
Dunstall Park regulars Reginald Claude and Dream Ally finished second and third
respectively.
The penultimate race of the day was also the longest at one
mile and four furlongs. Trainer Mark Johnston has been in fantastic form in
recent months and it was his gelding Trafalgar Rock that began the race as
strong favourite. Morris led aboard The Alamo and was closely followed by Joey
Haynes on Full Speed, one of two horses for trainer Philip Kirby. Kirby’s other
horse Bold Henmie tracked the leaders before being quickened up to lead with
two furlongs left, holding off the favourite and scooting clear under a
well-judged ride by claimer Phil Dennis. Johnston’s charge bridged the gap
slightly late on but only really stayed on the same pace, coming second for the
third race in a row.
All eleven horses lined up for the final contest, a Class 6
handicap over one mile and one and a half furlongs. It seemed that the vast majority
of bets went on Scurr Mist for Keith Dalgleish as it began the race at even
money having finished first and second on the last two occasions. Michael
Appleby’s French Press was the early leader, but a number of other horses
queued up to rival the gelding from the beginning. Phillip Makin tracked the
leaders on Scurr Mist, quietly pushing the grey along to mount a challenge with
a couple of furlongs to go before eventually taking over to lead in the last
furlong, staying on well to win by three lengths. French Press battled well to
finish second and Diletta Tommasa came late to steal third for Daniel Mark
Loughnane.
As stated before, beyond the racing there were competitions
held to celebrate the fashion on show. It was fitting that Sallyann Hunter, travelling
from her home in Scotland as she does every year for Ladies’ Evening, was
awarded the accolade of Best Dressed Lady. This loyalty really serves to
display the draw of Wolves as a venue providing entertainment for the masses
and a personalised service to every single individual in equal measure. Do come
and experience it for yourself, you won’t regret it!
Finally, a special mention must go to another epic
#WolvesForm story on Saturday. Litigant, having previously won over one mile
and five furlongs at Dunstall Park in 2013 (pictured above), was the winner of the illustrious
Betfred Ebor at York. Back in 2013 the horse was with trainer Seamus Durack and
Wolverhampton was still Polytrack! The horse went on to win two more races for
Durack, both at Lingfield and the latest one being in April 2014. That
information goes to show just how great a training performance it was by Joseph
Tuite, winning such a revered race after almost 500 days off the track and on
the gelding’s first run for Tuite. It was an unbelievable effort by both
trainer and jockey, with Oisin Murphy compounding the training preparations
with an equally superb ride. It was a tremendous story all round and great for
those #WolvesForm followers!
Author: Luke Archer (luke29rc@hotmail.co.uk)
