Rec romp led to TBA win at latest P2P
Horses cannot talk, but they can still make their feelings known, as Queens Bay proved one evening earlier this year.
A winner at Bratton Down of the latest Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Club Members’ point-to-points for fillies and mares, Queens Bay (Karinga Bay) seemed set for a winter at grass until making a very clear statement about the sedentary life.
Her owner, Lucy Dickinson, says: “We put two horses into training with Neil Mulholland, and since racehorse ownership is not cheap we decided to turn Queens Bay out in a field. She was starting to look rather down about life, when one evening my husband [Robert] went to check on her in the field and she trotted towards him, went past him and popped over a metal five-bar gate. She then headed for the local village recreation ground and galloped around the football pitches and pavilion several times.
“It was as if she was saying, I want to go back to a racecourse, so after we caught her we rang Jack Barber, and the following day he came and collected her. He says he had to give her ‘a full valet’ when he got her back to Dorset, because she was caked in mud from her escapade. We had to creep back up to the recreation ground early the next morning and repair the damage.”
Nine-year-old Queens Bay had won twice under Rules for Colin Tizzard, but Sunday’s run in North Devon was her first point-to-point. She beat six rivals, winning by five lengths and four lengths from Marlpit Oak and Whenharrymetsally, and with two more Bratton Down meetings before the season’s end next month, she could be in action again soon.
The TBA’s series of races for fillies and mares heads to West Wales on Sunday when a meeting is held at Lydstep near Tenby in Pembrokeshire.
Four horses have been declared, but they are all useful performers and should provide a competitive race. The standout appears to be Kimora (Bach), who won a hunters’ chase at Fontwell on her latest start, having run a fine race prior to that when second at Chepstow. She is trained by Marc Barber and ridden by his brother Matthew.
Gale Force Lucey (Oscar) was third to Kimora at Llanvapley last month and should run well, while My Coranna (Craigsteel) in her debut season pointing, has won twice and finished second three times in just five starts.