PONTEFRACT HORSE RACING SYSTEM -- 2019 SEASON -- MEETING #1

PONTEFRACT SEASON 2019.

Welcome to this our opening meeting of the season held on Tuesday 9th April. 

1st race 2.00pm, gates open from 12 noon.

With Spring here and Summer just around the corner, the flat season roars back in to action here at Pontefract with a quality race meeting on Tuesday 9th April. With £78,000 worth of prize money on offer, the card often throws up some impressive early season types. The first two meetings falling in the Easter school holidays for some, in time honoured tradition, there’ll be plenty of free sweets or Easter treats available for kids!

The highlight of the racing programme is the £25,000 Sponsorship for ROA Members Handicap over 1m 2f [16:30]. While the race meeting was lost to water-logging last year, a classy field assembled for the 2017 renewal. The winner was the subsequent Royal Ascot victor, Snoano, who took the honours for Malton trainer Tim Easterby.

The £15,000 1m4f EBF Novice Stakes [15:00] on this day has a rich roll of honour. Luca Cumani’s ‘High–Rise’ won this race on his way to victory in the Epsom Derby and lends his name to this race. Above Normal won the 2017 contest for Saeed Bin Suroor and Godolphin. He’s been winning in Dubai over the Winter – will 2019 unleash a potential superstar?

Becky the Thatcher [Stayers Champion].

Of all the races run over the years at Pontefract, the Stayers races evoke the strongest memories among the race going public. With course favourites like Dan Buoy, Jamaican Flight and Bluff Cove all laden with stamina, the Stayers Championship has proved a popular addition to the racing programme in recent seasons. Becky The Thatcher (above) was the Champion last year meaning that her trainer, Micky Hammond, has won the championship for three of the last 4 years. He’s got a few lined up for the Championship again in 2019 and they should be monitored closely!

ALL results for these fixtures are recorded to a level stake at Starting Price (SP), and will also show any forecast results too in the daily results but these do not count for the profit / loss figures.

The forecast going is now currently reported as 'Good to Firm, Good in places' the weather for Tuesday afternoon is for a generally cloudy day with some chance of showers but hopefully not too much rain to spoil the day. We are seeing a forecast maximum temperature around the 11C mark as we see in the beginning of the new season here.

Here are our selections for the eight races on Tuesday afternoon, remember it's a very simple selection process using stalls one and two in every race;

14:00 1m 6yds Handicap (Div One).
(1) -- STAR OF VALOUR  [5th 33/1].
(2) -- CELTIC ARTISAN  [3rd 7/1].

14:30 1m 6yds Handicap (Div Two).
(1) -- HEDIDDODINTHE  [12th 66/1].
(2) -- HITMAN  [11th 10/1].

15:00 1m 4f 5yds 'High Rise' Novice Stakes (3yo).

(1) -- ROCHESTER HOUSE  [WON 11/8].
(2) -- NORDANO  [3rd 14/1].

15:30 6f Handicap (3yo).
(1) -- FAIR ALIBI  [9th 14/1].
(2) -- CHAPELLI  [2nd 13/2].

16:00 2m 2f 2yds Jamaican Flight Handicap.
(1) -- STRAIT RUN  [5th 50/1].
(2) -- VALKENBURG  [WON 10/1].

16:30 1m 2f 5yds Handicap.
(1) -- DUKHAN  [6th 11/10F].

(2) -- SOCIETY RED  [2nd 5/1].

17:00 6f Novice Stakes (3yo).

(1) -- OBEE JO  [5th 10/1].

(2) -- ALFRED BOUCHER  [3rd 5/4F].

17:30 1m 4f 5yds Apprentice Handicap..

(1) -- KAJAKI  [4th 2/1].
(2) -- REGAL MIRAGE  [7th 5/1].

Staked -- 16 points.

Returns -- 13.375 points.

We start the 2019 season afresh, lets see how the journey this year goes. Results were average but it's only the first meeting, two winners, resulting in a small loss of -2.625 to SP.

Our next meeting here will be on Monday 15th April so we do hope to see you then.