CHILLING PLACE LOOKING GOOD TO LAND THE HAT-TRICK

On the busiest week-end of the point-to-point season the Vale of Aylesbury with Garth and South Berks stage their usual Easter Saturday fixture at Kimble in Buckinghamshire. The recent rain should of produced almost perfect going for the day and plenty of runners are expected to turn out. Alan Hill looks as usual to have several decent chances of having some winners with Bon Accord expected to take the opening Confined race after finishing 4th in a Hunter Chase at Warwick behind the eventual Cheltenham Foxhunters winner Baby Run. They are expecting as usual a very big crowd for this meeting and the advice is to arrive at the course as early as possible to beat the prevailing queues. A good entry of 89 runners has been received on a competitive looking 6 race card. The first race starts at 1.00 p.m.

The first race on the card as mentioned above looks a good chance for Bon Accord to record another victory. His main danger looks to be the former national hunt trained horse Buckby Lane. Buckby Lane seems a bit one paced these days and is getting hard to win with following a string of second place finishes. Although he is still capable of putting in a decent performance on his day. Mad Jack Duncan would also be a danger if Alan Hill turned him out in this race instead of Bon Accord. I feel Mad Jack Duncan is more likely to contest the last race on the card the Hunt Members Race. So a good chance for Bon Accord and Alan Hill to get the meeting off in style.

A competitive Ladies Open race is next up and Desert Tommy who has been very impressive on soft conditions again looks the horse they all have to beat. Although he did have a very hard race when winning at Whitfield and could be pushed all the way here if one of the Angela Rucker horses Petit Lord or Honest Endeavour was to show up against him. Petiti Lord would be the stronger of the two and rates a very big danger. Balladeer who beat Desert Tommy and won easily at Kingston Blount should also run well here if in that same kind of form. Home By Midnight must also come into the reckoning after having a season off before finishing 2nd behind Balladeer at Kingston but with that first run of the season under his belt he could well reverse the placings here. A very exciting race looks on the cards but Desert Tommy who did not enjoy the drying conditions at Kingston Blount can firmly put that record straight here and take revenge on his rivals and give Claire Hart another victory for the season.

The mens open race has attracted only 11 runners and this does look a match on paper between Chilling Place and More Trouble. Chilling Place gets my vote as I was very impressed by his victory at Whitfield under far from ideal conditions. I think he will be hard to beat. More Trouble does have it in him to push Chilling Place very close but he did not seem at his best at Kingston when only scrambling home from only mediocre opposition. But with joint leader of the national jockeys championship James Tudor on board he will fight his corner all the way to the line.

The most competitive race of the day should be the Restricted race with many runners holding strong chances. Dan Maguire showed improved form and was a good winner at Whitfield a fortnight ago, if over those exertions should go well. Betavix also looked a nice horse in the making after slicing through the field at Kingston Blount under a very confident ride from Ben Tuckey. Betavix only just got home as the approached the line but maybe Ben Tuckey will hold him up even later as the horse did just seem to idle in the closing stages. I think he will go very close to recording another victory. Unoitmakessense, Bynack Mhor, and Keel Road all look other possibilities with a good race in store.

16 entries for the Open Maiden race which seems to lie between Curly Quinn and Just Standeese. They have the best form in the book, but we could see an improved performance from the Nick Quesnel owned Le Fleur Bleu. Le Fleur Bleu unseated the rider on his last outing and if able to stay on his feet could well be there at the finish. Nick Quesnel also likes having winners at this meeting so bookmakers beware. The same remark could also apply to the Jimmy Tarry trained Miss Diss Grace. Jimmy Tarry's horses are flying at present with 2 winners last weekend and with only the 1 run under her belt Miss Diss Grace could be anything. As the stable is in such good form I will put this won up as the winner in what looks a very open contest.

The Hunt Members race brings proceedings to a close and with only 4 of the 7 runners looking to hold much chance this still looks a difficult puzzle to solve. Bynack Mhor, Ghonnywiththebowe and Long Courier all have the form to win a race like this. Unfortunately, for them they may all face one to good in Mad Jack Duncan who looks a very progressive individual. Mad Jack Duncan was pipped on the line at Cottenham at the beginning of the season but has not looked back since getting brought down next time out and following 2 bloodless victories should land the hat-trick and give Alan Hill a good possibility of landing a treble on the day.

Selections :

Race 1 - Bon Accord (Buckby Lane)
Race 2 - Desert Tommy (Petit Lord)
Race 3 - Chilling Place (NAP) (More Trouble)
Race 4 - Betavix (Unoitmakessense)
Race 5 - Miss Diss Grace (Le Fleur Bleu)
Race 6 - Mad Jack Duncan (Bynack Mhor)

This meeting has in the past thrown up a few strange results but I think we should have a couple of winners to pay for the beer money at least.

Let’s hope we get good weather on the day and the picnic baskets are overflowing with goodies so everybody can have a really enjoyable days racing.

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