Fuselier To Get Festival Off To A Flying Start

The PPORA meeting or should I say festival since it has now been moved to 2 days is the highlight of the Point-to-Point calendar. This year's event has seen massive entries for both days with 194 entries for Saturday and 189 on Sunday. As a result of this big entry the committee have decided to move the first race start time from 12.00 pm to 11.30 a.m. As it now seems very likely we will witness almost 20 races by 4pm on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday 2 of the races have already been divided and 1 race on Sunday, but other races are likely to be split on the day. The jockeys could well need flash lights on their helmets before the end of the day's racing. Let's hope the sun will be shining and the light holds to enable each days racing to be completed. For directions to the course please click on the courses link courses. This meeting is very popular and they are expecting big crowds on both days, so the advice is to arrive early to avoid any queuing. There will also be several stalls a fully licensed bar and various other catering facilities.

This meeting is always very competitive and attracts some very good horses from the best Point-to Point stables in the country. Due to the amount of runners declared many of these races are going to be ultra competitive. We will try our best to point you in the right direction but some horses have been double entered in different races and some entered on different days so it is not easy to know which horses will run in which races.

Connolly's Red Mills Intermediate Race Div 1

The opening race of the Barbury festival see's the best bet of the day in what looks to be a very difficult and competitive card. Flying Fuselier put up a good performance to finish 3 lengths second behind the improving Sudden Arrival at Dunthrop in December. Sudden Arrival franked the form by running a decent race in the very hot Mens Open at Larkhil won by Something Small last Saturday. Flying Fuselier should improve for this first outing of the season and has a fantastic chance to go one better this time around. Milton Du Tresor who opened his account at the first time of asking at Tweseldown in December and gave Richard Burton his first winner after breaking his ankle looks to be his main danger. Although the race he won at Tweseldown was not the strongest and would need to improve to take this step up in class.

Connolly's Red Mills Intermediate Race Div 2

The second division of the intermediate race look's far more competitive than the first. You could almost give three quarters of the 20 runners a chance. Phillip York will probably ride Balau who won well last season should have a good chance, although took a crashing fall at Tweseldown in December. It will be interesting to see if this mishap has put him off the jumping game. York also has the chance of partnering Harem Scarum and Harem Scarem would be the chioice if appearing in this race but I feel Phillip York will ride him in the Members race later in the afternoon. The other 2 horses with good chances is Oscar Royal if he could recapture his form at the beginning of the season. But you would need to forgive a very bad run at Dunthrop in December. Flax Hill also seems to be on an upward curve and looks to have as good a chance as any in what appears on paper to be a very open race.

Mixed Open

The Mixed open race also looks very competitive. Bon Accord is among the entries but I would Imagine Alan Hill will run Bon Accord in the Volkswagen Tourag Mens Open Race on Sunday. Hopefully qualify for the final later in the season. If Bon Accord was to turn out in this race then he should go well but there are also many others runners who have good chances. Obviously Irilut if he has got over his exertions from Tweseldown on Sunday, has another chance to record victory. The main advantage for him is that he will be race fit where many of the other runners will be making their seasonal reappearance. Cobreces has been running in Hunter chases and will obviously enjoy this drop down to points. If turning up the selection for this race would have to be Mouseski. Mouseski recorded a hat-trick of victories last season when notably taking the scalp of Pak Jack at Cheltenham. This is a very hard race but Mouseski would have to be the selection on the evidence of last season's performances.

PPORA Club Members Conditions Race

The club members race looks a good chance for Harem Scarem under Phillip York to follow on from 2 impressive victories last season. This horse could prove to be extremely decent and I will take the chance he has improved over the summer and be good enough to notch another victory on his return to the track. Again there will be plenty of runners queuing up to take this race. These include Gillie's Nephew who also makes her seasonal reappearance. Mister Putt who was beaten by King Georges in a fast time at Ideford March and Noakarad de Verzee. Noakarad de Verzee was pulled up behind Whereareyounow and Irilut at Tweseldown in December and with that run under his belt and the drop down in class looks a serious danger to all concerned. A cracking race looks in store.

PPORA Club Members Maiden Div 1 5,6 & 7yo

Another hard race which looks to be between Coombe Hill, Not in Thyne and Tres Bien. The other horse to be wary of is the Edward crow runner Gunner be Quick who pulled up on is only appearance and could be anything. The best form on show is Tres Bien's second at Larkhill last Saturday behind the Very impressive Now Listen to Me who is joint owned by Professional Gambler Harry Findlay and Paul Barber. This horse looks a fantastic prospect to the pointing ranks and will be a certainty in restricted company. Tres Bien although left in second place when Max's choice fell at the 2nd last finished best of the rest on that occasion. I am sure he will not find anything near the calibre of Now Listen to Me in this race and can score at the main expense of Not in Thyne who may need this first outing of the season.

PPORA Club Members Maiden Div 2 5,6 & 7yo

The 3 horses with the best form in this race are Iphar, Port Talbot and Present of Flame. Iphar was made favourite at Tweseldown's meeting in December but went off much to fast and got caught easily before being pulled up near the finish. If he could settle better then he would have a much better chance. Port Talbot has far stronger credentials he was well out in front at Dunthrop and still going well when unseating the rider. He must have a very serious chance of making up for this jumping error. The horse which has not yet seen a racecourse, which is worth a mention, is Delayed in Dublin for Mr Rodney Mann and Alan Hill (same connections as Bon Accord). Keep an eye out for this one in the paddock and on the bookmaker's boards, as this could be anything.

PPORA Club Members Restricted

This race is quite likely to be divided with 39 entries. The best form on show seems to be the victory by Worship The Stars at Dunthrop. Who won well and recorded a time only 2 seconds slower than the Mens Open race won by Reflected Glory later in the afternoon. Although the conditions at the course did get slightly worse as the afternoon proceeded. This was still a very good effort on his seasonal debut. The others worth a mention are Wixford Venture, Titanic Quarter, Lanicene, Shady Hollow and Belligerent. Lanicene has run two good races this season finishing second twice. Belligarent was also knocking on the door last season finishing second twice in his final two races. Shady Hollow looks to be the most likely danger to Worship the stars following his second to Exceptional at Larkhill last saturday. Lets hope the race is divided with Worship the stars and Shady Hollow in different races.

As the actual declared runners for each race are not known until the day, we will make a selection of which horse we believe will have a good chance of winning the race. A second selection will also be given in case this horse does not run. The best two bets of the day will be tagged in the form of a Nap being the best bet, and a Next Best being the second best bet of the day.

Selections :

Race 1 Flying Fuselier (NAP) (Milton Du Tresor)

Race 2 Balau (Flax Hill)

Race 3 Mouseski (Irilut)

Race 4 Harum Scarum (Noakarad de Verzee)

Race 5 Tres Bien (Not In Thyne)

Race 6 Port Talbot (Present of Flame)

Race 7 Worship The Stars (N.B) (Shady Hollow)

I hope we have given you a few pointers to help you through the day and don't forget to come back tomorrow for loads more fun and games.

The preview of the 2nd day meeting will be posted to the site on Friday.

Please email any comments to info@southmidlandp2p.co.uk