Kingscliff ready to roll back the years

The first Point-to-Point meeting in the South Midland area this season takes place at Dunthrop on Sunday 14th December 2008. They are expecting a big crowd for the Farmers Bloodhounds meeting and have 178 entries on a exciting looking 7 race card. The first race starts at 11.00a.m. but with so many entries we could see the possibililty of further races being split on the day. At this meeting cars will be charged at £10.00 to include the driver with any additional adults £5.00 per person. There will also be several stalls, a fully licensed bar and various other catering facilities.

The highlight of the card is the Mixed Open race at 12.45 where numerous horses have shown impressive high class National Hunt and pointing form in recent seasons and after last week-ends disappointment with the abandoned meeting at Tweseldown, Point to Point enthusiasts have been served up a real Christmas treat this weekend. There are plenty of competitive races likely and lets hope many of the good horses turn up on the day.

The first 2 races on the card are maidens for 5 year old + and with the majority of the horses never having seen a racecourse before, finding the winner looks very difficult. The only decent pieces of form in the first race comes from Flying Schuttle and Just Malt. Flying Schuttle ran a decent second on his only appearance last season and should be good enough to take an event of this nature. Just Malt finished 4th on his only start and also looks a likely improver. Up in the Sky is also one to keep a close eye on from the Fred Hutsby yard as he could be spot on now after his pipe opener at Black Forest Lodge at the start of the season. The second division looks just as hard as the first although Redskyatnight was still travelling ok when falling at the 13th fence at Cottenham on the opening day of the season. With that run under his belt he could go very close here if that fall has not dented his confidence and is able to put in a clear round. Port Talbot should also go well in this race although he does seem to have a touch of seconditus finishing runner up 3 times last season. Still "every dog as his day" so they say and this could well be Port Talbots turn on Sunday.

The PPORA Members race looks very competitive with Absolutely Barking who won a Restricted race at Black Forest Lodge heading the list of runners with good chances. Although he won the race easily by 10L the time was nothing special and the runners were only modest, but with fitness assured he could still make them all go. Killarney Prince, We're Confused, Selassie and possibly Greenfell look the likely dangers. Killarney Prince ran a fantastic race to finish second behind Burntoakboy at Cottenham and is definitely the horse to beat. We're Confused also ran some decent races last year and if fit enough to do himself justice he looks another strong contender to take this race.

The Mixed Open race follows and a great race looks in store, with the likes of Kingscliff returning to points following a up and down career under rules. If he can run anywhere near the form he showed under National Hunt Rules then he will take plenty of beating, although he looked to of fallen out of love with the game running in snatches and being very difficult to handle in his most recent races. Also he now maybe getting a bit long in tooth at 11 but he is still plenty capable of showing the rest of this field the way home and looks a good bet. The decent opposition includes the likes of Cottage River, Irilut, Lord of Illusion and Little Ed. Unfortunately, Burntoakboy who is entered for this race after his very impressive win of the Mens Open race at Cottenham will be taking the easier option to run in a much weaker race at the North Cornwall at Wadebridge on Saturday, which if successful he will have secured qualification to run in the Foxhunters race at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

This really does look like a race to saviour so make sure you come along to this meeting and enjoy what looks on paper to be one of the best open races we have seen in the South Midlands Area for years.

The Restricted race sees the biggest entry of the day with 38 horses entered. This race could easily be split and looks very difficult to fathom with so many unexposed runners, Bill Jones ran a decent enough race on his final start last season although beaten a fair distance he would have as good a chance as any. The same comment applies to Pretty Lady Rose although she never stepped foot on the racecourse last year so will probably need this comeback run. The other runners I like are Scattered Scarlett for the Amanda Bealby yard, Smugglers Run for Charles Dixey and History Master who was in the process of running a decent race at Black Forest Lodge before running out of steam at the 15th fence. With that run under his belt he also looks a major player and a possible winner. A very open race which needs to be watched very carefully for plenty of future winners.

The final race on what looks a fascinating card looks to hold a good chance for Sudden Arrival to get back to winning ways following some decent runs against stronger oppositon last season. He could have most to fear from Blue Business who also showed a decent level of form at the beginning of the season. Others to mention are Back to Ben Alder who looks to be on the upgrade and also Rainbow Tree who is also capable of springing a surprise.

A great looking meeting to kick-off the new South Midland season for 2008-2009 and a great way to finish the year in style. With so many entries it is going to be difficult to find winners on the day, but hopefully we will find a couple to send you home with an extra christmas box from the selections below.

Selections :

Race 1 - Flying Schuttle (Just Malt)
Race 2 - Red Sky at Night (Port Talbot)
Race 3 - Killarney Prince (We're Confused)
Race 4 - Kingscliff (NAP) (Lord Of Illusion)
Race 5 - Scattered Scarlett (Bill Jones)
Race 6 - We're Confused (Absolutely Barking)
Race 7 - Sudden Arrival (Blue Business)

Dunthrop will also be staging 2 further meetings at the track on Sunday 25th January and Sunday 22nd February 2009.

Let’s hope the sun will be shining and it's not too cold and everybody can have a really enjoyable opening days racing .

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