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The final meeting of the Midlands area season took place this weekend at Dingley and with the weather gods conspiring to bring us the driest April and May the entries were understandably sparse. 

The Fitzwilliam fixture was the sole meeting in England on Saturday and once again the ground staff had worked around the clock to produce a safe racing surface with the official going given as Good, Good to Firm in places (Watered).

Dingley regulars Dale Peters and Mountain Assault came out on top in the opening Conditions race when winning by ¾ of a length from Bothwell Bridge in the colours of his own Father and the Clarks. This was Dale Peters’s 100th winner trained between the flags, a figure he only managed to stay on for 35 minutes before Maskadam took the Restricted but this time under Jack Andrews whilst Dale himself took the runners-up spot on Inbeforered. Maskadam was yet another winner for Beryl Close who with her family were also sponsoring the race in memory of Beryl’s late husband Jamie. 

Unfortunately Ragnar Lodbrok walked over in the Mens open but the crowd were treated to a longer than usual interview with Gerald Bailey who gave them a run-down of the season they had enjoyed with both Ragnar Lodbrok and winner of 7 this season Aramax.

The Ladies Open was a tactical affair with Daisy White on Killer Clown controlling the pace from the front and turning the last half mile into a sprint to win by 3 lengths from Precious Bounty and Novice title-chasing Marina Bealby. 

Validation managed to finally shed his bridesmaid tag after a series of runners-up efforts when winning in a canter for Gina Andrews and Nigel Padfield before the final race was taken out by Jack Andrews on the Stuart Morris trained Eoin’s Charm for the Pytchley with Woodland Syndicate and was greeted back in the winners enclosure by 20 plus owners.

That concludes this season in the Midlands area. We will publicise next seasons’s fixture dates as soon as they have been confirmed.

Many thanks to all our owners, trainers, jockeys and, most of all, volunteers for making the 2024-5 Midlands Point-to-point season possible. We hope to welcome members of the public back after the summer break when the season restarts in the winter.

The Midlands area Point-to-point season finale will be the Fitzwilliam meeting at Dingley racecourse on Saturday 24th of May, where we will have a six-race card with something for everybody, including two open races, two maidens, a restricted and a conditions race.

Dingley racecourse is on the Harborough Road, just East of Market Harborough in Leicestershire (LE16 8PJ), and offers fabulous viewing of the whole course. There will be a bar, food outlets, bookmakers and lots of trade stands. The meeting is also hosting an online auction with lots of great racing and hunting-related lots which can be found here: https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/fitzwilliampointtopointauction.

Once again a huge amount of work has gone into preparing the racecourse as we have not seen rain at the venue for some time. Watering has been taking place continuously and will continue right up to the day of racing. All the bends have been moved onto fresh ground.

Saturday’s racing will also finalise any Midlands area Championship points for this season. Dale Peters looks to have the already have the area Leading Rider Championship in the bag, and should add both the Leading Trainer award, as well as the Barthorpe Trophy for the most points by a rider from any area at Midlands fixtures. Dale brings five horses to the meeting.

This meeting hosts two open races, a three-miler for the gentlemen and a two-and-a-half miler for the ladies. Both include an entry by Janika (Rupert Stearn), the six-year-old owned and trained by the Turner family in Suffolk who has been third on his last two outings but won on two occasions before that.

The Sharpe Family Ladies Open sees Killer Clown (Miss D. White) join us from the Beaufort country, carrying over a stone less weight than when he won at Hexham last weekend over the same distance. Molly Legg will ride Young Rich for Gina Andrews, having won a match race last time at Mollington earlier this month. Finally, locally trained Precious Bounty has been very successfully campaigned around the country by Marina Bealby, and will be looking to challenge for the National Novice Riders title which she is currently jointly leading with Clara Brewitt.

Whilst on the subject of Championships, Inchidaly Robin (James King) currently leads the points for Champion PTP Horse. A victory in the Stacks Property Search Mens Open here would certainly create some scoreboard pressure on El Capitaine, also currently on seven wins, before the latter runs on Sunday. Janika also has an entry here for the Turners, and another East Anglian runner, Caryto des Brosses, represents the David Kemp yard and owner John Ridge. “Frenchie” missed out last time in a great finish at Garthorpe to Christian and Geri Horner’s prolific Lift Me Up, but may still start as favourite. Ragnar Lodbrok (Conal Kavanagh), trained by Jennifer Owen, would be a very popular victor, owned as he is by the Whiskey and Water Partnership, some of whose members are local to Dingley. Ecco is the last entry here, trained in Worcestershire by Jessica Nevin for the Smith-Maxwell family and a winner last time out at Tabley in a conditions race.

Both Ecco and Young Rich have entries in the first race of the afternoon, the Boilerjuice PPORA Club Members Conditions race but the favourite here may be Mountain Assault (Dale Peters), a winner here at the last meeting, although not the highest-rated. That honour goes to Bothwell Bridge, trained by Kelly Morgan for the Fernie Dingley Syndicate, who lost out to Largy Pearl, also ridden by Dale Peters, last time out. Another horse sure to be in the frame is Pillar Rock (Jack Andrews) who will be hoping to make it four wins on the bounce for Gina Andrews and The Pop The Cork Syndicate. Master Malcolm (Miss A. Richmond-Watson), trained by Stuart Morris, and Russian Diamond, trained by Francesca Poste, are both entered here too.

The runners and riders for the second race, The Close Family Five Years and Older Restricted Race, have a similar feel, with Jack Andrews, Dale Peters, Stuart Morris, Francesca Post and Kelly Morgan all represented once again. Dale will choose to ride either Maskadam or Inbeforered, both of which he trains for his loyal owners Toby Hunt and Beryl Close. Top rated in this lineup is Can Daddy Dance, owned and trained by Nigel Padfield and ridden by Gina Andrews, but they will carry a 5lb penalty, as will McMurroughs Court (S. Mead), Ping Pong Paddy (Miss F. Lindsay) and Steppingstone, all of whom have won restricted races. Royal Maggs, trained by Jack Teal, recveives the mares allowance and will carry 7lbs less. Jack Andrews will ride Havock for Stuart Morris, a bit disappointing last time when fourth behind Pillar Rock at Garthorpe, and Louise Bevin trains Il Padrino which will be ridden by Ellie Holder. Tony’s Tipple was a popular winner here last time out for Will Thirlby and his fiancée Annabel James and will be hoping to repeat the performance.

After the two open races we have two maiden races, one over three miles with no weight for age allowance, sponsored by Will and George Spencer, and one over two and a half miles kindly sponsored by Meridian Audio.

In the first Just A Joy, Kirsch de Cotte and Validation have all finished second at this level, but keep an eye on Skiffle Man, ridden by James King and trained by Luke Price, sure to win at this level soon.

Validation is also entered in the last, in a field which has little form. Again, Luke Price and James King team up with Jumbo Mills, making his pointing debut. Jack Teal-trained Bryman’s Moon and Drinkupwe’releavin, trained and ridden by Dale Peters, may be others to watch. Jack Andrews rides Stuart Morris-trained Eoin’s Charm.

We would like to thank everybody involved with Point-to-point racing in the Midlands area for their commitment and support this season. We thank the trainers and owners for continuing to send horses to our meetings, thereby supporting the hard work done to prepare the courses on which they run. The volunteers who come out and give up a whole day of their time, for little reward, are the ones who keep pointing running. If Point-to-point racing were no longer a fundraiser of any sort then it is difficult to imagine these volunteers continuing to support a sport for no tangible purpose.

There is much discussion about the fixture list for next season, dependent on Levy Board grants, and the re-classification of some races. We will endeavour to keep you informed throughout the summer months as and when we have any news. At the time of writing a hurried-looking press release has been published which asks more questions than it answers and causes some concern. We have reformatted it and included it here on Midlands Pointing as well.

The going at Dingley for the Fitzwilliam meeting on 24th May:

Dingley has been watered well yesterday and today. It will be watered again tomorrow and Thursday and we will monitor the forecast closely for rain ongoing.

Any questions Clerks of the Course, are available Charlie Reynolds 07971 145020. Charles Millington 07714 233930

The course at Dingley has been light tine harrowed, rolled and filled since last meeting and has gone back well. It will be agrivated before watering which will start early next week as usual. There is residual moisture in the ground from 2 watered meetings recently and there is plenty of water available to achieve ground as near to good as possible by Saturday 24thMay.

Our next race meeting, kindly hosted by the Fitzwilliam (Milton) Hunt, will be held on Saturday 24th May 2025.

Please click here for more information and tickets

The ever popular Point to Point auction is now LIVE – click here for more information on the exciting lots available

The Fernie point-to-point, the penultimate meeting for this season in the Midlands area, took place at Dingley on Sunday 4th May. Once again,we are very grateful to the incredible team at Dingley for their hard work on the ground, which attracted 28 runners to race between the flags on ground which was officially given as Good.

The feature race of the afternoon, indeed the feature race for the Midlands season, is the Welland Valley Feeds Fernie Four-Miler and this year it brought a sense of deja vu to the Leicestershire track.

It may have been a mile longer for this meeting but the first three to pass the flags did so in the same order as they did in the Open here a fortnight ago. Odds-on favourite Aramax, ridden again by Alex Chadwick for Jennifer Owen and the Whiskey and Water Partnership, repelled a spirited challenge from George Gorman’s Larry to provide the sort of finish which befits such a prestigious race, crossing the line half a length ahead. Dale Peters, a winner on Friday evening at the Cheltenham hunter chase evening, rode Thunderstruck, owned by the Walpoles and Mary Cherry Downes, to complete the top three, five lengths behind. “I think that horse speaks for himself,” Alex Chadwick said. “He always turns up and always tries his hardest. There are not many horses like him that have achieved as much as he has from since he was a novice and still has the will to keep wanting to win now.”

The afternoon began with a maiden race, kindly sponsored by Watling JCB, which saw My Jetta Plane and Ellie Callwood use their seven-pound advantage to good effect, beating a pair of Andrews siblings into second and third. Validation, ridden by Gina Andrews, owned and trained by Nigel Padfield, challenged hard in the run-in but failed to overhaul the winner by half a length. Jack Andrews and Eoin’s Charm were a little further back in third, for Stuart Morris and the Pytchley with Woodland Partnership. Ellie said, “[She] travelled strongly and her jumping was quick and neat. She got a bit lonely after the last but was always doing enough to cross the line in front. She deserved to win today.”

The Tattersalls Conditions Race for Novice Riders followed this and saw a return to form for Ragnar Lodbrok, owned by the Whiskey and Water Partnership and trained by Jennifer Owen. This time the Fame and Glory ten-year-old was ridden by Conal Kavanagh, who has been working for David Pipe but drove up to Leicestershire to ride for the Owens before starting work for them in Newmarket on Monday morning. Drakes Well (Thomas Hutsby) and Master Malcolm (Miss A. Richmond-Watson) battled it out for second place, a long way behind, with the former being given the decision on the line by a neck.

Gina Andrews trains and rides Cheytac, which had predictably started the seven-runner Sharnford Tractors Restricted Race as favourite and went on to win by about three lengths. The six-year-old, owned by Cliff Myers, had previously won a restricted at Fakenham and carried a 5lb penalty, but was still too strong for Il Padrino (Ellie Holder) in second and Cash Or Card (Dale Peters) in third.

Dale Peters may have been having one of those days thus far, but victory on Mountain Assault in the Level 2 Conditions Race for older horses, sponsored by Berry Accountants and Berry Wealth Management, will have helped a lot. This advanced Dale’s ridden winners tally to 197 and his number of winners trained by him in point-to-points to 99. Sadly, this had become a match race with the predictable loss of pace, but favourite No Risk des Flos, trained by Gina Andrews and ridden by Rupert Stearn made it a decent race finishing just two lengths adrift.

Fred Hutsby’s Carpe Diem had a rather unexpected change of jockey before the last race of the day, the A & J Sectional Buildings Maiden Race with no weight for age allowance. His Son Tom, who had ridden two races earlier in the day, was taken ill, forcing a late jockey change in the form of Gina Andrews. Carpe Diem made all and won in fine style to beat Mr Doodlebug, a six-year-old owned by Louise Bevin and ridden by Paddy Barlow, by a length and a half, with Secret Plan (George Gorman) five lengths behind them. We now have a short break in the Midlands before the Fitzwilliam meeting back at Dingley on Saturday the 24th May. Tickets are already available online on our ticketing page for £15 (+£1) to include a racecard and will of course be available on the day for £15 without the racecard. Their card of six races includes two maiden races and two open races as well as a conditions race and a restricted and will conclude the season for our area. We look forward to seeing you there!

Click HERE to purchase your raceday tickets for Saturday 24th May 2025

Mr Charles Millington

“Here we are at Dingley, Saturday morning … as you can see, we are watering as normal, we’ve got about the last run through to do, we’ll keep going until about 2pm – 2.30pm to give us 24 hours without watering for the racing tomorrow.  The ground at the moment is good and this last bit of watering will hold it for tomorrow”

Dingley Races 4th May 2025

The course has been rolled, seeded , filled and agrovated since the Easter Saturday meeting and we are pleased with the way that it is looking. It will be watered as necessary ahead of the Fernie meeting on Sunday to provide ground as near to good as possible. We have sufficient available water  to use, and look forward to a good day’s racing, with plenty of other side attractions lined up for the day as well.

Click HERE for our Raceday Preview

The going at Dingley for the Fernie meeting on 4th May: Dingley racecourse has recovered well after Easter Saturday. It has been rolled, reseeded and filled. It will be aggravated and then watered as necessary to produce ground on Sunday 4th as near to Good as possible. We have the full ‘ground crew’ ready to go again.

Easter Saturday 19th April 2025

Photos of this meeting are available online – Nico Morgan

Archie Wright summed up the thought of many when he was interviewed after winning the Restricted race and said, “The Clerk of the Course has done the most incredible job. With the weather we have had, to produce that ground is quite awesome.”

The Pytchley with Woodland at Dingley saw 35 runners between the flags on Easter Saturday. After many hours of careful watering the ground was officially given as good, good to soft places and gave a very large crowd an excellent afternoon’s sport, including a treble for Alex Chadwick – who missed out on the four timer by about a length – and an earlier quickfire double for local trainer Dale Peters.

Alex Chadwick opened his account in the feature race of the day, the Macintyre Hudson Mixed Open race. He piloted Aramax, owned by the Whiskey and Water Partnership, many of whom are local to Dingley, in a strong performance which saw them overpower challenges from Larry (G. Gorman) and Thunderstruck (Dale Peters) in the latter stages. This brings Aramax’s pointing record to five wins from seven starts, the remaining two results being second placed finishes to The Big Lense and Law Of Gold respectively. Alex Chadwick said, “he’s a really nice horse and felt a bit more rejuvenated than the last time I raced him. It really suited him today.”

The afternoon began with the Hunt Members Race, sponsored by King West, in which Dale Peters was victorious on Largy Pearl for loyal owner Beryl Close. “He jumped and travelled really well,” Dale said. “He’s been a different horse this year after we sorted out a few niggles over the Summer. He’s always shown us a lot at home but now he’s showing it on the track too.” Eight lengths behind in second were Bothwell Bridge (Ellie Callwood), with Harry Hoyles in third on Twenty Twenty.

Beryl Close was back in the winners’ enclosure after the Rathbones-sponsored Conditions Race, our second of the day. This time Wallace Olinger, tipped by Dale Peters before racing started as one of his best chances of the day, was the winner. It was probably not the horse’s best jumping performance, but he always looked like he had the gas to power through in the final stages. Peters said, “he gave me a good feel, bar a couple of clumsy jumps. He put the race to bed with ease. I was a little disappointed with him at Brocklesby and Leicester, but the Brocklesby winner hasn’t been beaten since and after Leicester he had a really bad infection in his front leg. He’ll probably go for a Hunter Chase now.” Second and third were both secured by horses trained by the Morgans: Glen Cannel (W. Grant), trained by Laura Morgan; and Bride Rovers Abu (Ellie Callwood) trained by her sister Kelly. 

Nine-year-old Fame and Concrete gave Alex Chadwick the second of his winners, this time in the Restricted Race, sponsored by The Greedy Gordons Pub Group. This time Chadwick was riding for Nick Wright and Team, who are all clearly delighted by this success. “We bought him two years ago at Doncaster, from Jonjo O’Neill,” Archie Wright said. “We never really got a clean run with him last season but this year he has been much better. He likes a bit of cut in the ground.

The card concluded with two Maiden races the first of which was an open Maiden raced over the traditional 3 mile distance, and kindly sponsored by Rural Insight Land & Development. This produced one of the best finishes of the day. As Kirsch de Cotte and Tony’s Tipple slugged it out in the run-in. The latter, ridden by Will Thirlby, getting the upper hand in the final strides to win by a single length and deny Alex Chadwick. Dr Doodlebug (Paddy Barlow) was five lengths behind in third.

The final race of the day was the BMTC Law Mares and Fillies Maiden, raced over 2 1/2 miles and here Blue Topaz, ridden by Alex Chadwick, won by two lengths from My Jetta Plane and Ellie Callwood, and Knocknagapagh, ridden by Charlie Case who was third. Charlie Poste, representing his wife, the trainer Francesca, was very complimentary about the jockey. “Alex is riding at the top of his game. He’s had three riders for us: two winners and a second, so his stock is pretty high in my book. He was really good on that horse today.”