SATURDAY afternoon provided an ideal afternoon for racing at the Newbridge trotting races held at Cilmeri. The few showers in the morning did nothing to spoil the atmosphere generated on this lovely wide open track set below the Epynt mountains.

The first races were the Novice heats, these are always very competitive as the young horses try to make their way through the grades.

Evenwood Itchyfeet winning on his first time in this division, delighted his driver Elin Bevan who picked up a catch-drive from her neighbour Gareth Mills from Llanddewi.

In second was the inform Ithon Queen driven this week by Katie Davies for the absent owner Sam Reynolds from Orleton while Red Cash (Sargeant, Newbridge) was third.

In the second heat Fold Megastar driven by Mathew Tromans for the Perks family of Presteigne took top honours from the irrepressible Sally M (Davies, Orleton) with Greenhill Lucky (Price, Builth Wells) picking up third.

The first heat of the Grade B saw last week’s winner Blue Guns N Roses with usual driver Perry Thomas from Pontypridd sweep into the lead to claim a well deserved victory from Stateside Icon (Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey), while Beg For Mercy (Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn) was third.

In the second B heat Carrie on Fred with owner Liam Middleton from Llandrindod in the seat won from the fast-finishing Zulu Warrior (Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn) and Lawless (Duggan, Howey).

In the Grade A the little Llwyns Mercy (Collingwood, Huntington) scuttled along as fast as her little legs would allow, but the longer striding Dernol Yankee with Lynne Boxhall at the controls eventually overtook her, to claim first prize for owner Edward Wozencraft from Llangurig, while the lightly raced Happy Hands (Rowlands, Nantmel) was third.

The first Baby Novice race gave another win for driver Mathew Tromans as he partnered Dernol Jacky (Beddoes, Llanbister) while Fran Morgan from Knighton with her own Carrie on Doon was second and Begwyns Trust (Lloyd, Painscastle) took third.

Brywins Saturn gave her owner Carolyn Rowlands from Nantmel a win in the second Baby Novice race with Lynne Boxhall in the seat, while Manceys Deuce (Hawkes, Orleton) was second and newcomer Lakeside Lariat (Jones, Cribyn) was third.  

This week, for the first time for a while, there were two Nursery races as new horses make their way into the sport.

The big Fold Fearless was a comfortable winner in the first driven by Mathew Tromans for the Perks family at Presteigne, in second was Hillbilly Jackson (Bevan, Builth Wells), with first time out Buster Bradie (Eggerton, Norton Canon) in third.

In the second race Dernol Lucky Strike looked a good future prospect when he won for Edward Wozencraft of Llangurig, this Lynne Boxhall’s third win of the day. In second was the smart Dai’s Silver Talk (Bevan, Builth Wells) with Greathouse Arrow (Evans, Newport) third.

The Dash provided the specialist Best in Flight (Gale, Gorslas) driven by Dai Arrowsmith with another win from Easy Connection (Millard, Stourbridge) while GG Rogue (Gale, Gorslas) was third.

This week’s saddle race saw the return of Jayne Bevan from Llanddewi as jockey for her own Ontop Shouda Cuda winning impressively from Happy Hands (Rowlands, Nantmel) while Llwyns Mercy (Collingwood, Huntington) was third.

Perry Thomas picked up another catch drive in the Novice final as he partnered the in-form Ithon Queen (Reynolds, Orleton) to win from Fold Megastar (Perks, Presteigne) with Greenhill Lucky (Price, Builth) claiming third.

The Junior race is always an interesting contest and this week Jacob Bird on the Perks family Fold Allstar drove a competent race to victory from Ellavafella (Bevan, Llanddewi) with Lola Mills on board in second.

The non-whip is another popular race with the reliable Victoria Penlan driven by trainer Perry Thomas from Pontypridd racing home in front of another talented mare Juicy Wiggle (Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey) while Begwyns Trust (Lloyd, Painscastle) was third. Perry Thomas was another driver with three wins to his name this week.

The final race of the day was the Grade B Final which proved to be an exciting race with a blanket finish, but it was Stateside Icon driven by Mathew Tromans for the Weigel family from Llanddewi Velfrey who got the verdict from Zulu Warrior (Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn) this week in the hands of Lynne Boxhall, while Blue Guns N Roses (Thomas, Pontypridd) finished third. This provided Mathew with his fourth win of the day.

So after a lovely traditional afternoon’s entertainment, next week the racing is again on the Cilmeri course on Saturday 17th August starting at 1.30pm.