Tom Fruit picks up a win (From Gazette & Herald)

Tom Fruit picks up a win

Last week, the running order of the races at Royal Ascot at York was published. It differs only marginally, due to the different course lay-out, from last year's programme at Berkshire.

Most people have their own preconceptions of Royal Ascot, whether it be the Royal Procession, the champagne, the hats - toppers for the men and an array ranging from the flamboyant to the bizarre for the women - but, aside from its place in the social calendar, what really distinguishes it from any other meeting is the sheer quality of its racing.

The top level of competition on the turf are the Group One races. These include all the Classics, the Eclipse Stakes and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Last year four races in Yorkshire held Group One status: the St. Leger at Doncaster, the Juddmonte International, the Yorkshire Oaks and the Nunthorpe Stakes at York. The five days of Royal Ascot will see six Group One contests, with two on the first day, the St. James's Palace Stakes and the Queen Anne Stakes, and one on each of the successive days.

In addition to these races, there will be seven Group Two contests, the same number as were run at all the York meetings in 2004 and one more than Doncaster staged in that year. Nowhere else in Europe, perhaps even the world, will stage such an array of top quality horse-racing over five consecutive days. If you unable to visit the track, 25 of the 30 races are to be televised by the BBC.

In one respect, competition on the Knavesmire will be very different from Ascot Heath. The two big handicaps of the meeting, the Royal Hunt Cup run over one mile, and the six furlong dash for the Wokingham, will have smaller fields due to the safety limits based on the width of the track. The maximum field for each of these contests will be reduced from 40 to 30.

The Royal Hunt Cup, usually a cavalry charge straight up the Ascot course, will also have a bend on the track but these two contests will surely be as competitive as ever, and most races will have just as many runners as in past years.

The one major horse race that has always eluded Ryedale trainers is the Grand National.

All the flat Classic races have been won by local yards, admittedly it is over a century since the Derby and Two Thousand Guineas spoils have been captured, but in the latter half of the twentieth century Cantelo and Peleid won the St. Leger and fillies Mrs McArdy and Frieze captured the One Thousand Guineas and Oaks respectively.

The major jumping races, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle have seen successes for trainers Peter Beaumont, the late Jimmy FitzGerald and particularly Peter Easterby, with Saucy Kit, Alverton, Little Owl, Night Nurse and Sea Pigeon.

But the Grand National has always been a race too far. The nearest we have come to winning the world's most famous horse race was 20 years ago when Mick Easterby's Mister Snugfit led over the last fence but was caught on the run-in and finished second to Last Suspect.

Last week the entries closed for this year's showpiece, being run for the first time as the John Smith's Grand National, with sponsors well known for their support of York's big July features.

The race has attracted a record entry of 152, and 13 of these come from Yorkshire yards but only Peter Beaumont's Hunters Tweed and Mick Easterby's Hermes III are from local stables.

The Middleham area has eight entries, including six from Ferdy Murphy's West Witton stable, but the chances of a first Ryedale victory in the event looks decidedly remote.

If last weekends racing was unremunerative for the local yards, the mid-week fixture at Wetherby was much more successful, particularly for the Easterby clan.

Tom Fruit, trained by Tim Easterby, won the opening contest, an amateur riders hurdle race. The win gave rider Gerald Tumelty his second victory with his first ride on the track.

A close runner-up to Tom Fruit was Cottam Grange, trained by Tim's uncle, Mick, who went on to win the next contest with Parknasilla. Peter Beaumont's Sharp Single had made all the running in this beginners' chase and was still clear of his rivals at the last fence but in-form rider Tony Dobbin produced a finishing burst from Parknasilla to win comfortably.

Third in that race was Tribal Dispute, ridden by Russ Garritty, who was really struggling with a bout of the flu but he kept going to ride Edmo Yewkay in the novices' chase. Russ really had to push the five-year-old in the very testing going, but he kept on to give trainer Tim Easterby a second win before giving up his two remaining rides to return to his sick-bed.

David Easterby, Mick's son was saddling up at Wetherby as his father was on holiday in Dubai. If Mick went to the local race meeting at Nad el Sheba the following day, he would probably have felt quite at home, as four of the races were won by English trained horses.

Horse-racing is such an international sport today but it is remarkable to see a mid-week card in the United Arab Emirates with two South African winners, as well as the four from England.

No doubt Mick will be viewing up the possibility of emulating the English trainers, Mick Shannon, Jeremy Noseda and Roger Ingram and having a raid, with perhaps a little gamble, himself.

Catterick's seven-race February meeting takes place on Friday, February 4, starting at 1.30pm.

The feature races are The Marne Handicap Chase over two miles, three furlongs and The Watt Fences Racecourse Suppliers Handicap Hurdle, a contest for stayers over the extended three miles and one furlong. It was won last year by Grey Abbey, who went on to secure a famous victory in the Scottish Grand National in April.

Grey Abbey is now a leading fancy for the Cheltenham Gold Cup next month after winning The Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby last October and his bold, front-running success in last Saturday's Pillar Property Chase at Cheltenham.

Friday's programme includes a qualifying race for the European Breeders Fund Novices' Hurdle Series, in which the first four horses will be eligible to compete in the final of the national series at Sandown Park in March.

Updated: 15:28 Wednesday, February 02, 2005