FERGAL O'Brien and Jelly Nolan have enjoyed considerable success over the years but Fretoria Dancer's victory in the Members during Sunday's Cotswold Point-to-Point at Andoversford must take pride of place.
The 30-year-old's duties as head lad to Nigel Twiston- Davies' yard at Naunton rest-ricts the amount of time O'Br-ien has available for race riding.
There have been some near misses in recent seasons so there was no hiding the delight on his face after Pretoria Dancer had managed to hold off the challenge of the favourite Bit O'Speed.
Pretoria Dancer provided the first leg of a double for Nolan's Naunton stable that took the Ladies Race later in the afternoon with Steady Eddy.
Anna De Lisle Wells showed a cool brain on the favourite because Proper Primitive looked set for victory climbing the final hill.
Miss De Lisle Wells and Ballyalbert attempted to make every fence a winning one in the Maiden and they nearly succeeded in doing so until the eight-year-old's stride began to shorten approaching the last.
They fought back bravely on the flat but were unable to withstand Tom Putts finishing thrust which provided 19-year-old Chadlington student Ben Pauling with his first success.
Adrian Wintle is the leading jockey in the West Midlands area this season and he showed why after a superb ride on Macy in the Confined.
The ten-year-old looked beaten during the final half mile but the Cheltenham based rider reasoned that the leaders would probably come back to him, so bided his time before producing Macy with a race-winning run at the last.
Two weeks ago, Maisemore Park attracted a capacity crowd and a plethora of runners, so the Cotswold Vale farmers will be hoping for a repeat performance for Sunday's meeting at the same venue.
The condition of the course that day was a credit to all concerned, and 285 entries have been received for the Cotswold Vale fixture in the expectation that similar conditions will apply.
Eight races are scheduled starting with the Members Race at 2pm and ending with the final division of the Maiden at 6.05pm.
Admission is £10 per car plus one and £5 per person thereafter. Children under 16 admitted free.
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