The Hurworth held their meeting this weekend at Hutton Rudby, with beautiful weather and a fantastic crowd, everyone enjoyed some fantastic racing. There were some ducks and doubles on the day as Will Easterby continued his run of good form when winning the Conditions and Maiden race, whilst Lois Teal, sister of leading amateur Jack Teal, broke her duck and scored her first victory in the Veterans race.
Lois Teal is probably better known for her exploits in the eventing field after her most notable victory being at Badminton Horse trials, however this season she has turned her hand to pointing and aboard Minella Fair trained by her brother Jack Teal, rallied close home to score. A well timed ride saw Lois swoop late in the Veterans race and catch Path To Freedom and John Dawson close home, with Mr Snuffles and Huw Edwards back in third. Bought from Noel Meade’s yard at last year’s Doncaster May Sale for a mere £3000, where previously he had finished third in the Thyestes Chase back in 2020. This son of Flemensfirth is proving to be a bargain buy by his rider and should be able to continue to give connections plenty of fun.
Will Easterby was also on form in the Conditions race with his own Ask To Dance, backing up his win at Charm Park the pair stayed on well to fend off the veteran Mr Pepperpot and John Dawson, whilst Lilly Frank continued her good day aboard Fairy Mix in third. The winner was scoring for the third time and looks to have appreciated the better ground “he didn’t win by far but I was very happy with him…he’s a nice big horse who will only improve again next year…we might aim him for something like the Heart Of All England” said Will Easterby who hopes this winning son of Ask can develop into a nice prospect.
The final race on the card was the Open Maiden and that to would go the way of Will Easterby and Benny Baloo, the victory looked unlikely two out, however the pair swooped late on the run in to catch Fascinating Rhythm and Jack Power on the line and win by the narrowest of margins. Trained by Anthony Ross, this imposing son of Schiaparelli was bred by his connections and it is a family Will knows very well “we train his sister Betty Baloo…Benny Baloo is a very nice staying chaser for the future, he did well to win as everything went wrong in the race” said Easterby. Rebel Monarch was well fancied before the off and ran well in third for Archie Frank.
The Hunt Members race saw Lilly Frank and Vent d’Automne run her rivals ragged and make it two victories for the season. The pair led from the fourth fence and drew clear after 2 out and win with any amount in hand, beating Sartorial Elegance and John Dawson who is owned by Clerk of the Course Stevie Cook, with Neville Woods in third for Phil Greaves. The winner has been a revelation this season with two impressive wins giving his pilot her first two career successes “my mother Rachel Frank bought Vent d’Automne from Doncaster sales as a spur of the moment thing…she raised her hand without us knowing!” joked Lilly, who loves both the riding and the training of the horses “I love training the horses so I know how they feel…I love racing and would love to ride more in points” said Lilly who looks as though she could be a rider to note in seasons to come.
Game As A Pheasant was an impressive winner of the Ladies Open on his eighth start of the season and gave Rosie Howarth a fourth success for the season and puts her at the head of the table for the Yorkshire and National novice titles, Kildaven Spider ran well on her return to finish second under Alex Garvin, whilst McMurphy was well held in third for Lois Teal.
The easiest winner of the day came in the Men’s Open as the talented Steely Addition sauntered away from his only rival under John Dawson who thankful for a spot in the winners place after three seconds, his only other rival was Wonderoftheworld and Paddy Barlow. The winner could step up in to hunter chases now and likely benefited from the return to better ground.
Photo credit Tom Milburn Photography 
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