PONTEFRACT HORSE RACING SYSTEM -- 2019 SEASON -- MEETING #16 THE FINALE !!

PONTEFRACT SEASON 2019.

Welcome to our sixteenth and final meeting of the 2019 season on Monday 21st October. 

1st race 2:20pm, gates open from around midday. 

After a great Summer of racing, the 2019 season comes to a close at Pontefract on Monday 21st October. The final meeting ends what has been a fantastic year at the West Yorkshire track with some memorable racing. And the final race day is no different with a top class Listed two year old race on the card. The 27th running of the 'Listed ebfstallions.com Silver Tankard Stakes' [15:50] has an impressive roll of honour with past winners including Comic Strip, who won the 2004 renewal for Sir Mark Prescott before being sold to race in Hong Kong and becoming one of the most successful horses in their history. D’Bai took the honours in 2016 for Charlie Appleby and the same yard sent out the hot favourite for the race in 2018 in the shape of Old Persian. The 2018 winner, Manuela De Vega (pictured below), finished fourth in the Oaks this season.

It’s the final leg of the Pontefract Stayers Championship as well. The Stayers races are always hugely popular with racegoers and a great spectacle as the equine stars set off to complete over a full circuit of the testing West Yorkshire track. It’s all up for grabs in the Phil Bull Trophy Conditions Stakes [16:50] with both Forewarning and Rubenesque still in with a chance of taking the honours. Phil Bull founded Timeform and he framed the conditions of this race to allow some of the top class stayers who regularly compete in the best staying races in the country, the opportunity to get their head in front.

We’ll also be crowning the champion jockey and trainer from Pontefract during the 2019 racing season. Richard Fahey and Danny Tudhope have been the champion trainer and jockey respectively for the last two seasons but it’s all change this year with Mark Johnston and Graham Lee currently leading the way but it’s still all up for grabs with one day to go.

The action is currently timed to get underway for the final time in 2019 at 14.20 with gates opening at midday. With a number of horses trying to squeeze in one final run for the season, there may be an additional race on the programme so please keep an eye out for last minute changes to the race times. There’ll also be a chance to buy some early Christmas presents too as the Injured Jockeys Fund will have their stand on course. You’ll also be able to purchase your 2020 Annual Badge!

ALL of our 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. We arrive here on the back of a small loss last time which does mean we are still trailing on -43.24 points to SP as we come into the sixteenth, and final, meeting. The forecast going is now currently reported as 'Soft, heavy in places' and our weather for Monday afternoon is for a wet day with plenty of rain likely to arrive, the forecast maximum temperature around the 12C mark.

A link to this afternoon's race card can be found here

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

14:20 1m 6y Nursery Handicap (2yo).
(1) -- MAGNA MORALIA  [2nd 5/4f].
(2) -- GUIPURE  [WON 10/1].
£32.40 f/cast

14:50 6f Novice Stakes (2yo).
(1) -- LINCOLN GAMBLE  [5th 9/2].
(2) -- SPYGATE  [2nd 11/10f].

15:20 1m 2f 5y Handicap.
(1) -- ILLUSTRISSIME  [8th 50/1].
(2) -- SODS LAW  [2nd 9/2].

15:50 1m 6y Silver Tankard Listed Stakes (2yo).
(1) -- WYCLIF  [2nd 15/8f].
(2) -- SIR ARTHUR DAYNE  [5th 11/1].

16:20 1m 6y Handicap.
(1) -- KING POWER  [2nd 20/1].
(2) -- FOX FEARLESS  [4th 11/8f].

16:502m 2f 2y Phil Bull Trophy.
(1) -- ARROWTOWN  [2nd 5/6f].
(2) -- HARTSIDE  [6th 100/1].

17:20 5f 3y Handicap.
(1) -- HAWAAM  [2nd 11/1].
(2) -- MILITIA  [3rd 3/1].

Staked -- 14 points.
Returns -- 11 points.

As we reach the conclusion of the 2019 season it's been a sad story of chasing our losses, while the selections are out of our hands with this system we are on a deficit of -43.24 coming into our final meeting today and that's just the way things go sometimes. Just the sole winner so far today and plenty of runners up sadly. Final loss for the season is -46.24. 

This is our last meeting for 2019 we haven't done as well as expected, but it's an experiment and one I will probably continue in 2020 again. As Arnie would say "I'll be back"