Parham hosted their first point-to-point of the season on Saturday 25th March where the weather was variable but the racing was exciting.
The fixture started with the restricted race which saw five declarations. Why Didn’t Ya had fallen at the eighth fence but the remaining four runners were still in contention four fences from home with Hannah Clarke’s Schiap Hill and Alan Hill trained Highland Glory leading Nigel Padfield’s Penniless and Sarah Ashby’s Imperial d’Ainay. Penniless and Jack Andrews made their move approaching the penultimate fence but still had Highland Glory right beside him and a thrilling finish looked to be on the cards until Highland Glory ran out at the penultimate fence leaving Penniless clear of Schiap Hill and Imperial d’Ainay. Penniless sealed the victory with a good jump at the final fence and won by twelve lengths whilst Schiap Hill and Imperial d’Ainay battled for second place with Imperial d’Ainay gaining the advantage on the run to the winning post.
The Ineos Grenadier mixed open attracted six runners with Andrew Coveney trained Definite Dilemma sent off the favourite. Phil York waited for most of the first circuit before taking up the lead on Definite Dilemma and the pair managed to hold off all challenges as again all six runners were in contention until three fences from the finish. Nicholas Wright’s Red Maple finished well to take second place ahead of Too Many Diamonds. Flaminger, Just Cause and Jackfield had their own battle over the final two fences finishing in that order with the softer ground coming up from the third last fence to the penultimate fence being attributed to the lack of pace from some of those runners.
The level two conditions race produced the most exciting finish of the day. Five runners made their way to the start but Simon Stearn’s Broadwater pulled up before the second open ditch and Andrew Hazeltine’s Instant Replay pulled up in the final back straight having lost touch with his rivals leaving three runners battling it out over the final four fences. Jaisalmer and Lexi New parted company at the third last when the pace increased leaving Rob Varnham’s Imperial Esprit and Tom Ellis trained Master Templar to battle it out. The pair took the penultimate fence together and Imperial Esprit just had the advantage at the final fence but a driving finish from Gina Andrews and Master Templar saw them snatch the victory in the final strides.
Gina Andrews and Tom Ellis quickly followed up their victory in the level two conditions race with success in the level three conditions race with Loughan who had been sent off the 10/11 favourite. Simon Cross’s Whoshotwho had opened up a substantial lead over his rivals of over thirty lengths during the first circuit but Gina made steady progress over the second circuit to reel them in taking up the lead at the thirteenth fence. The early pace set by Whoshotwho led to Simon Stearn’s September Fields, Nicholas Wright’s Oval Street, Hannah Clarke’s Shanoule Wood and Elizabeth Feakes Oscar O’Scar to pull up in the back straight and Whoshotwho also called it a day three fences from the finish which left Loughan clear of his only other rival Buffalo Sabre who was unable to catch the leader but completed for second place.
The maiden race also saw five runners and again three runners were still in contention three fences from the finish with Hannah Clarke’s Right Hand of God leading Nicholas Wright’s Mount Pleasant and Steve Spice’s Jasmin des Bordes. At the penultimate fence Jasmin des Bordes had been dropped by his two rivals and an injection of speed from Mount Pleasant at the penultimate fence saw him gain the advantage. Right Hand of God tried to chase the leader down but was unable to close the gap and had to settle for second place. Jasmin des Bordes finished third whilst Hannah Grissell’s Robin Is Ready also completed for fourth whilst David Phelan trained Lou Cristiano pulled up at the penultimate fence on his racing debut.
The fixture finished with a level one conditions race with David Phelan trained Buachaill Dana sent off the favourite with Gina Andrews in the saddle looking for a treble on the day. The treble looked to be on as Buachaill Dana took up the running from the early leader Wireless Operator at the fourteenth fence, however Wireless Operator came back to challenge Buachaill Dana after the third last fence. The pair were together at the penultimate fence but Wireless Operator quickly pulled away from Buachaill Dana who was unable to find any extra on the run to the final fence. A huge cheer greeted Wireless Operator and Harvey Carrington as they safely cleared the final fence which matched the huge smile on Harvey’s face as he recorded his first win in a point-to-point and providing Andrew Coveney with a training double on the day. Buachaill Dana was the only other finisher as Dogon, Rintulla and Ballintara all pulled up and Imperial Acolyte fell at the sixteenth fence.