News - Carl Evans 2-1-2008
Web feat gives Ridley a ‘great feeling’
World Wide Web, winner of the 2007 Hayes Golden Button Challenge, was reported in tip-top condition the
day after his memorable triumph.
Mick Ridley, who owns the gelding with his wife Heather, said: “He’s fine – really relaxed
and happy. He came home, ate up his grub, and we even turned him out for an hour after the race to have a kick and a roll.”
The Ridleys acquired World Wide Web 18 months ago after he finished racing for owner J P McManus and the
Jonjo O’Neill stable. A condition of sale was that he would not run in any form of racing under Rules, which counts
him out of point-to-points.
Ridley said: “We will try to find another event similar to the Hayes Golden Button Challenge for
him, and he only turned 12 on January 1, so he will be back to defend his title next New Year’s Eve. It was a really
great feeling to see him win, and made all the hard work worthwhile.”
Twelve months earlier World Wide Web was in contention for the runner-up spot when shedding his rider,
Ridley’s son James, with a mistake at the last. James was due to ride the horse in the 2007 running, but broke his ankle
when schooling pointers in November, so top Flat jockey Eddie Ahern took over in the saddle.
James’s plaster cast will be removed on January 9 and he will return to work for point-to-point
trainer Richard Barber as soon as possible. Now he has every incentive to get back to full fitness, not only to ride in points,
but also to partner World Wide Web in the next Hayes Golden Button Challenge.
Ahern says Web win better than Lingfield
Ace Flat jockey Eddie Ahern sat tight to win the 2007 Hayes Golden Button Challenge on World Wide Web,
and said the experience was “better than riding a winner on the all-weather at Lingfield”.
Ahern’s mount found an extra leg to stay on his feet at the sixth fence, where six of the 32 runners
came close together on landing over a big hedge into an apple orchard, and then survived a slow jump at the 18th
where the jockey was forced to call a cab. The combination of class and experience got them through, however, and World Wide
Web galloped to victory, beating the Sarah Myhill-ridden Captain Rawlings, and Zoe Gibson on Piper, to collect the winner’s
golden button.
Ahern added: “He jumped the hedges as if they weren’t there. We went second at a triple of
hedges about six from the finish and the only horse in front was ridden by a fella a good bit heavier than me, so I knew we
had it won from there.”
Captain provides Doctor with pure elation
Doctor Sarah Myhill finished second in the first ever running of the Hayes Golden Button Challenge, and
she filled the same spot 12 months later when riding Captain Rawlings in the 2007 renewal.
It was a remarkable effort by Powys-based Myhill, a winning point-to-point rider and experienced team
chaser, because she broke several bones in her neck just a couple of months earlier.
After collecting two golden buttons for being the first lady rider and veteran, Myhill said: “Before
an event like this you are always frightened silly – after it you experience pure elation. I’ve enjoyed riding
in points for the last couple of seasons, but they won’t give me a licence now I’ve broken my neck. It doesn’t
give me any problems, apart from being a bit stiff.”
Asked how the latest Hayes Challenge compared to the first, Myhill said: “Last year they went at
team chasing pace, this time they went a bit faster, at pointing pace.
“The secret is to jump the fences on an angle to save ground – the jockeys are used to taking
a fence straight on – but I couldn’t peg Eddie back after the last.”
Piper gets a tune, but it is seconds out for the celebrities
Top jockey Eddie Ahern may have won the Hayes Golden Button Challenge, but once again the event proved
that a good amateur can more than hold their own on the right horse.
Doctor Sarah Myhill finished second, while Zoe Gibson, from Knossington in Leicestershire, finished third
on Piper, who she described as: “French-bred, and 15.3 hands high if you stretch him.”
Gibson bought Piper as a failed pointer in Ireland, and has since hunted him and
taken part in several hunt rides. She said: “I’m the queen of the placings. I won the Harborough Ride on Piper
in 2006, but otherwise we’ve been second twice in the Melton Ride, runner-up in last year’s Ingarsby Challenge,
and now third in the Hayes Golden Button Challenge.”
Asked for her view of the day, Gibson said: “The going was fabulous and the event was beautifully
organised. The course is softer than the Melton, but on a par with the Harborough.”
Gibson added that she would like a minimum weight of 11st 7lb to be introduced – the organisers
considered this proposal before the race, but decided that as the event was only in its second year another tier of organisation
was best left for the future. It is a subject likely to be discussed before the 2008 renewal.
Among those who have made a name in the world of racing, the 2007 running proved no easy challenge. Flat
jockey Jim Crowley, riding Nosey, fell at the second, where Scottish National and Hennessy Gold Cup winner Gingembre was also
on the floor, while Grand National-winning rider Marcus Armytage pulled up four from home on a hunter called Balintio.
Matthew Keen, a carpenter from Oxfordshire, rode Gingembre and said later: “We took the second by
the roots. He was very keen and we were going half a stride quicker than he’s been used to since retiring from racing.
“He was quickly on his feet and jumped loose with the leaders all the way to the 18th
where he was eventually caught.”
Reflecting on the day, Keen said: “I had proper butterflies on the morning of the race, but after
we jumped the first I couldn’t wait to get stuck in – you can imagine, there was some pretty colourful language
following our fall at the next.
“I was winded for a few seconds, and when I got to my feet I thought I could see Gingembre in the
distance and wanted to get back on to complete the course. The hunt staff who were catching loose horses went and fetched
him, but it was a case of mistaken identity – they came back with the wrong one!
“I’m sad we didn’t get further, but it has really whetted my appetite for another go.
We’ll be back next year.”
On ground that varied from good to holding, and following a strong early pace that meant many horses pulled
up in the final half mile, only 12 of the 32 runners completed the course in the 2007 Hayes Golden Button Challenge.
The organisers expressed regret that a hunter, ridden by experienced point-to-point rider and team chaser
Rowan Cope, had been put down following a fall at the 19th fence.
Later they returned to the obstacle, a hedge, to see whether any other factors had contributed, but decided
the fall was an accident. A subsequent contest, the JCB Diggers Inter Hunt Challenge, went ahead without incident.
A rosette for Redvers, and gongs for the Button
The man who masterminded the Hayes Golden Button Challenge put himself in the hot seat at this year’s
event, and took part in the newly-inaugurated JCB Diggers Challenge.
David Redvers, who chairs the organising committee and whose wife, Laura, headed the New Year’s
Eve masked ball that took place after racing, rode his own hunter Galway.
The riders in this new event were advised by starter John Francome to go steady, but Redvers and another
Ledbury Hunt thruster, Edmund Haddock, had brake problems and were soon setting the pace.
Haddock’s mount was eventually pulled up, but Redvers completed the course and gained a rosette
for being a member of the third-placed team.
Reflecting on the day’s events, the chairman said: “I’m thrilled. It’s been a
fantastic day. This is how racing started and you can see why it grew like it did – our forefathers who did it in this
style must have enjoyed themselves just as much as we have.
“It’s good to get back to proper amateur racing and to give an opportunity for everyone to
take part. It’s slightly ironic a professional jockey won the main event, but the number of true amateurs who did well
show what can be achieved. For many to ride against the likes of Eddie Ahern and Marcus Armytage adds to the excitement.
“I’m sure that with the generous sponsorship we’ve had and the large numbers of people
who came along we have made a proper sum of money for the air ambulance and Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.”
News - Carl Evans 29-12-2007
‘Course preparations going well’ says Warner
Roger Warner, clerk of the course for the Hayes Golden Button Challenge, says preparations for the event are progressing
well.
Speaking on Friday evening (Dec 28) before a heavy shower swept across the track, Warner said: “The going by
the river bank is good, but we have had half an inch of rain in the last 24 hours and there are two wet fields where the ground
is holding. They are at Chaceley Stocks, between fences 13 and 14, and further along the course between fences 20 and 22.
“The course will be flagged by lunchtime on Saturday [Dec 29], but there is to be no walking of the track until
Sunday afternoon from 2pm. I’m very happy with the way the track is looking.”
A course walk will also take place on New Year’s Eve at 8.45am, which is two and a quarter hours before the Hayes
Golden Button Challenge comes under starter’s orders.
Fox Grant on a diet for Celebrity
William Fox Grant’s bid to win the Hayes Golden Button Challenge on Celebrity has centred on a major push to
shed weight ahead of the race.
The Wiltshire-based rider says: “I have not touched a drop of alcohol or eaten a piece of chocolate since December
9. I did have one glass of bucks fizz, but that’s all.”
Despite the temptations of Christmas, the intrepid Fox Grant emphatically denies he wavered from his diet, yet adds:
“I’ve only managed to lose 3lb! I cannot explain it.”
A frequent competitor in hunt rides and team chases, Fox Grant resolved to shed weight after finishing third in the
Ingarsby Challenge, held in Leicestershire earlier this month. He says: “I led over the last in that event, but I weigh
13st 7lb with all the kit, and I was passed by two lady riders on the run to the line.
“We were giving them about 2st, and yet were beaten only about 10 lengths – the winner [Hannah Maidwell]
was on a flash-looking pointer, and the runner-up was Sarah Myhill [who takes part in the Hayes Golden Button], a member of
the Teme Valley Tigers, so we were up against it. I’ve been dieting like mad since in a bid to close the gap.”
Fox Grant adds: “I reckon I’m the man in form, because I won the Wessex Yeomanry Ride on December 1.”
Celebrity is one of two horses he will partner on New Year’s Eve – he is also riding Ferrari for the Fox
Grant Triers in the JCB Diggers Inter Hunt Challenge, an event for teams of four that will take place after the main event.
Seven hunts are now represented in that contest – they are the Ledbury, Wilton (Fox Grant’s local pack), Cotswold,
Golden Valley, Heythrop, Berkeley and North Cotswold – the latter team will be captained by ace team chase rider Yvonne
Goss, who won the Hayes Golden Button last year on Perry.
The first two teams in the JCB Diggers Inter Hunt Challenge will receive champagne, while the winners will be given
a silver trophy donated by Andrew Elliott, auctioneer, bon viveur and well-known as a leading light at Brightwells.
Fox Grant says: “Celebrity is now 12 and I broke him when he was four. Ferrari is a big, red horse and very fast,
but he’s only six so I have put him in the second event. In time I hope he can win the Golden Button.”
Linda Syckelmoore, who runs a livery yard at Fovant in Wiltshire, looks after Ferrari and Celebrity. Their owner has
a successful estate agency in that part of England,
but he opened an office in Herefordshire last year, run by his brother Tom, and is moving that business to bigger premises
in Ledbury next month.
Bolger withdraws, but sends best wishes
The greatest exponent of cross-country racing, Ireland’s
Enda Bolger, will not take up his entry in this year’s Hayes Golden Button Challenge after declaring himself a non-runner.
Bolger, trainer of the great Spot Thedifference, regularly mops up races like the La Touche Cup at Punchestown and
the Sporting Index series at Cheltenham.
He said on Friday (Dec 28): “The Golden Button is a great idea and I’m all in favour of it, so I put in
an entry. However, New Year’s Eve is a very busy day for point-to-pointing in Ireland and I have to stay here to saddle my runners.
“One day I hope to come over and ride in your race – I wish everyone who is taking part a great day out.”
News - Carl Evans 27-12-2007
‘Greatest
jockey’ to start and finish Golden Button
John Francome, seven-times
Britain champion jumps jockey, will start
and finish the 2007 Hayes Golden Button Challenge.
Lambourn-based Francome, regarded as one of the greatest riders of a steeplechaser, has accepted the role
of starter for the three-mile contest – he has also agreed to present the seven category winners with their golden buttons
after the event.
Well-known as a man who likes the unusual – in a recent
Racing Post interview he described the pleasure he gained from attending a Dusseldorf tyre fair – Francome will have
the difficult task of controlling some 40 horses and riders before they head off on the trip of a lifetime.
He will then be transported from Tirley to the finishing line near Forthampton where the prize-giving
ceremony will take place.
Well-known as a Channel 4 Racing pundit, Francome is also an author, whose 22nd book, Dark
Horse, has just been published by Headline. A hardback, it costs £17.99.
Grand
National winner Armytage in line-up
Grand National-winning rider Marcus Armytage will partner Valentino
in this year’s Hayes Golden Button Challenge.
Armytage, who works as a racing correspondent for the Daily Telegraph
and Horse & Hound magazine, achieved jump racing’s most envied place
when entering Aintree’s winner’s enclosure on Mr Frisk in 1990.
A keen hunting man, Armytage is no stranger to the sort of country he will race across on New Year’s
Eve, and his mount, Valentino, is a seven-eighths eventer with several gears.
Valentino is being loaned to Armytage by Gill Carenza, who is also providing Mosey as
a partner for professional jockey Jim Crowley. Up to Christmas Eve Sussex-based Crowley has ridden 89 winners this year and collected nearly £670,000 in win and place prize-money
for owners.
His colleague, Eddie Ahern, who rides World Wide Web on New Year’s Eve, was recently
slapped with a global three-month ban by the British Horseracing Authority. However, because the Hayes Golden Button is a
‘challenge’, and not an official race, Newmarket-based Ahern is free to take part.
Under the totting-up system of suspensions that are in force on British racecourses, jockeys can eventually
be given a lengthy ban – Ahern was found guilty of bringing racing into disrepute by attempting to trigger such a ban
during Flat racing’s quiet winter months. He strongly denied that had been his intention.
News - Carl
Evans 20-12-2007
Track in great shape, says clerk of the course
Although the Golden Button course is white with frost today, Thursday,
December 20, a forecast of rain for the weekend is welcome news for clerk of the course Roger Warner.
“Until the frost came down the going was generally ‘good’,”
says Warner, “and while we don’t want five inches of rain, the amount that has been forecast will do us no harm.
“The course and the fences are in good shape. We haven’t
put the flags in the fences yet, but we have taken down the wire [that keeps farm stock in].”
Of the 24 jumps in last year’s inaugural Golden Button Challenge,
only one, the second, caused difficulties for horses and riders. A water-filled ditch that had filled to the brim after unprecedented
rain, it looked deceptively like a wide puddle. Horses that attempted to splash through it went deeper than expected.
However, Warner says: “Now the water is much lower the banks
of that ditch can be seen and it is less trappy, but we are taking the precaution of putting some wicker hurdles in front,
or possibly some sleepers, to give horses a point of take-off.”
One third of the Golden Button course is run over land belonging
to his family, so Warner is a good judge of the local environment and knows the River Severn – he became intimate with
it in July, when it crossed half a mile of fields and flooded his house and the one in which his parents live. Work to repair
the damage has only recently neared completion.
The same river threatened to spoil the inaugural Golden Button Challenge
12 months ago, but it went ahead, and the going on the running surface was remarkably good, even though adjacent fields were
under water. A similar scenario seems highly unlikely this time, and Warner says: “It could rain every day from now
until the start of the race and the river will not burst – I’ll eat my hat if it does, and you can print that.”
Given that Warner owns a crash helmet he faces a substantial meal
if his prophesy is wrong – a can of Seven Up could help wash the chunkier pieces down.
William could prove a winner for Warner
In an event that snakes across the countryside, a little local knowledge
could be the key to winning this year’s Golden Button Challenge.
Participants could do worse than follow William,
a hunter who will be the mount of clerk of the course Roger Warner. He watched the event from the back of
a powerful quad bike last year, but has since purchased a one-horsepower machine to give himself a far more exciting day out.
He says: “I bought William, a hunter standing 17.2 hands high,
in March. Neither he nor I have ever done anything like this before, but he has a turn of foot.
“We’re not just going for a hack around – we’ll
be giving it a serious shot.”
Team Warner/William is in the running for three golden buttons –
the overall winner’s prize (no chance!), the first non-thoroughbred (lively outsider) and the first horse ridden by
a Ledbury Hunt subscriber (strong contender). Despite rumours to the contrary, Warner is just 31, and therefore ineligible
for the veteran riders’ prize.
“It would be great to win a Golden Button, but we have to
get round first,” he says. “I just decided that riding in the event was one of those things you have to do in
your life – although my wife, Laura, is not too happy about my ambition.”
This might not be the only time Laura’s nerves will be on
edge, for the couple’s two children, Lottie, 3, and Oliver, 18 months, both have ponies and could one day be just as
keen to follow in their dad’s hoofprints.
That is something a lot of riders will be looking to do on New Year’s
Eve – perhaps they should bribe the clerk of the course to wear fluorescent pink!
News - Carl Evans 17-12-2007
Doc can prove a pain in the neck to
Button rivals
GP Sarah Myhill bids to go one place better in this year’s
Golden Button, a mere three months after breaking her neck!
Sarah, 49, who is based in Knighton, Powys, says: “I was riding in a team-chase
event in October for the Teme Valley Tigers, but the mare I was on is a bit of a prima donna. When another member of the team
came past heading to the last jump she got in such a strop she took off a whole stride too soon and came down on top of the
fence. I broke the vertebrae in my neck from C2 to T1.”
Despite being hospitalised for five days the galloping doc shunned the opinion
of her medical colleagues and was riding two weeks after the fall.
She finished second in the Golden Button last year when chasing home fellow team-chase
rider Yvonne Goss on Perry.
So what appeals to Sarah, a mother of two grown-up daughters, about the Golden
Button Challenge, an amateur event which attracts professional jockeys as well as fun riders? “It requires a lot of
riding skill,” says Sarah. “You have to set your horse up for the jumps, cut the corners and keep out of other
people’s way. There were 47 runners last year, so it was a huge buzz.”
Her mount in this year’s race is Captain Rawlings, who
Sarah rides in point-to-points and who provided her with a first victory in that sphere when scoring at Bitterley near Ludlow
in 2006.
Incidentally, if Captain Rawlings gets tired in the closing stages of the Golden
Button he has the right woman on board. Sarah specialises in chronic fatigue syndrome and has treated Gulf War veterans and
farmers suffering from sheep dip flu – maybe some of her Golden Button rivals should book a post-race appointment now!
Lyndsay bids to prove Authority wrong
Upton-on-Severn trainer/rider Lyndsay White has been told she
cannot take part in amateur races - but that will not stop her riding her own horse I'm For Waiting in the
Golden Button Challenge. Lyndsay, 22, who is based at Leslie Law’s former yard in the village of Naunton in Worcestershire says:
“I wanted to ride in point-to-points, but because I’m slightly deaf in one ear the British Horseracing Authority
refused to grant me a riders’ certificate. I run a breaking and livery yard, and it seems daft that I’m regarded
as perfectly safe to ride young thoroughbreds that can be valued in hundreds of thousands of pounds, yet I can’t ride
an experienced older horse in a point-to-point.”
Lyndsay, who used to work for trainer Kim Bailey before setting up on her own,
is not wrong when she talks about valuable horses – she has looked after thoroughbreds for David Redvers of Tweenhills
Stud, leading bloodstock agent Aiden Murphy, and top jumps trainer Venetia Williams.
She adds: “I went to the Golden Button last year as a spectator and it
looked really good fun. Anybody can have a go – it seems a very pure form of racing.”
