Just before I fully concentrate on previewing Sunday’s attractive eight race card I thought readers would be pleased to hear that the top Sussex jump jockey Jamie Moore is targeting the Moorcroft Charity Raceday here at Plumpton on October 19th as a date for his return to the saddle. This encouraging news was passed on by his father Gary and it will be good to see his son back riding in the not too distant future.
On Sunday, Gary himself will have just the one runner during the afternoon and that will be Jafaru in the selling hurdle.

“I think the horse has a decent chance and he should handle the course.” was his comment when I asked him what he thought of the horse’s prospects. This selling hurdle has a competitive profile for a race of its type with the Lewes trainer Jim Best also targeting his only runner of the day at the prize. White Moss is the type who Jim and his brother Tom have a very good record with over the years and Jim suggested to me that the horse was in great form and that they were confident of him being ready to do himself justice. Richard Phillips sends Hammer for the race and feels he certainly has the ability to win if things go his way. Tim Vaughan and Evan Williams are also represented and with their impressive individual records at the track it would be a folly to write off the chances of their runners.

The Evan Williams runner Gan Eagla will be ridden by Adrian Joyce who may not be familiar to everybody but Evan was certain we would be hearing a lot more of him from this season on. “We interviewed a lot of young conditional jockeys because we wanted a 5lb claimer to join the team. Adrian was attached to the yard of top Irish trainer Tom Taafe and rode 29 winners prior to coming over and that included a valuable handicap. He will ride three on Sunday and we think he will do very well with us.”

When I asked Evan about his chances on Sunday he kindly ran through his runners.
“Agente Romano should handle the track, is in decent form and we are hopeful. Cool Cliché has been very disappointing. He is a lot better in the morning than the afternoon. Treasury Counsel joined us from Nicky Henderson and was a promising novice but has had lots of niggly problems. Blacktoft, Tayarat, Tiger O’Toole and Celebrity Call are very much what you see and we are looking to building the confidence of Just Like That.”

One trainer who has a couple of entries here on Sunday is Mrs Tregawney Hill and she is another name who will become much more familiar to racing enthusiasts over this coming season and beyond. Her current strike rate is nothing short of fantastic which is an over used word in today’s society but is befitting in this instance. For the benefit of readers who may not be acquainted with her I asked Mrs Hill to give a resume of her career to date.

“My husband Alan and I have been involved in point to pointing for around twenty years. He was a leading jockey in that sphere and in hunter chases. We decided to take out a full license to train about four or five years ago. It started slowly but we are moving forward and now have fourteen in full training to supplement another fifteen we have for the pointing field. We wanted to keep challenging ourselves to move forward and with the farm we run, our two children and the training we are certainly doing that. Our record at the moment is respectable and we will strive to keep it going as long as possible.”

It is certainly that and I then asked what we might expect of her runners on Sunday.

“Wayne Hutchinson keeps the ride on Milesian King as he won on him recently and the owner (who I believe wrote a history of Plumpton racecourse) was keen for him to keep the ride. Christian Williams will ride Shammy Buskins who he would have rode when he won recently but for the weight. We would be very hopeful they can both pick up some prize money.”

David Elsworth sends a raider down for the juvenile hurdle that opens the card. He says “Highland River is no world beater but after an unfortunate unseat on his debut ran with some promise last time. It is difficult to know what he is up against but we think he will be okay.”

Charlie Mann who has such a wonderful record at our course runs Key Regard in the same event.

“He has been gelded and had a wind operation since he last ran. He came to me from Jamie Osborne and it is one step at a time but we think he is useful at this stage” commented Charlie.

Noel Chance, another trainer with an excellent course record, sends two down from his Lambourn base and was kind enough to give us his insight.

“Wee Sonny didn’t stay the 2mile 2f trip last time, will benefit from the drop in distance and must have the top of the ground. Mister New York is as fit as a fiddle and has schooled really well at home. He is a four time winner on the flat at all sorts of trips and I am very hopeful.”

Finally, Emma Lavelle bids to continue her good course form when Invention tries to win the novice handicap chase. She says “He seems in really good nick, the ground will suit, the race suits and he jumped well on his chase debut. He is no superstar but he is decent enough at this stage.”

I will suggest two horses for each meeting over the season ahead. Obviously confidence will be higher on some occasions than others and I will try to convey this in a three star system. For this meeting I will go for the Emma Lavelle trained Invention in the 2.30 with two stars and the same two stars for the Charlie Mann trained Key Regard in the opening contest.