REVIEW
COLLEGE VALLEY AND NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND
ALNWICK
SUNDAY 10 MARCH 2002

by John Bulman

The rescheduled meeting of the CV & NN hunt kicked off at 12.00pm with the Confined race where Mountain Thyne and Morag Neill galloped on far too strongly for Dream of My life who tired rapidly between the last two fences. Mountain Thyne was a well supported favourite and can probably score again.

The PPORA members race was won by Swanny Haldane’s High Expectations (see Berwickshire review!) under a good ride from Tristan Davidson. The winner stayed on well to beat In Demand who had defeated him at Kelso. Broom Close ran a promising race to take third after being ridden well off the pace.

Pauline Robson took the most competitive restricted you could hope to see when she steered last weeks easy Tynedale maiden winner To The Future to another highly impressive victory. This one (by Bob Back) is owned by Raymond Anderson Green and cost 44,000 guineas as a youngster. Certainly one to keep an eye on and an impressive win from the odds on favourite. He looks far too good for point-to-points. Red Gauntlet and Luke Morgan finished a gallant 2nd with Mefein Boy (Dale Jewett) in 3rd. This was a competitive race and should provide lots of winners. Apart from the three already mentioned, I’ll Swing By, Bertie O’Toole, Prince Of Perils and The Broken Man look capable of scoring.

The Ladies Open was preceded by a torrential downpour and strong winds which sent even the most hardy of Northern P-to-P supporters scurrying for cover. The race only had 3 runners and Buckaroo was soon well detached. Up front Pauline Robson galvanised Riparius to just hold on from Balisteros. It was Riparius’ 3rd win of the season and kept up Pauline Robson’s incredible run of 6 winners from all 6 rides in this area this season. Pauline is obviously choosing her rides carefully and should be followed while in this kind of form.

The Mens Open went to What A Fiddler who was odds on to complete a double for Swanny Haldane and Tristan Davidson. They held on from last weeks Tynedale scorer Rum Rebel, with Falcons Flame back in 3rd.

This meeting came to a premature end as the two divisions of the maiden were abandoned due to heavy showers which had made the course extremely testing. While the decision was understandable it seemed a little strange that the Stewards decided to announce that the meeting would be abandoned before the Mens Open race had been run. It seemed a bit of a hasty decision as the sun came out for the race and the day finished in strong sunshine!