Stafford Cross Point to Point meeting on Sunday. Photo by Simon Horn. Ref mhsp 6074-18-11SH.

A total of 28 turned out for the Stafford Cross fixture despite intensive watering.

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Cornish rider Will Biddick took advantage of the day however to ride three of the four winners saddled by Dorset trainer Richard Barber.

Cappoquin started the ball rolling for the Seaborough yard to give Barber’s 19-year-old grandson Jack Barber his fourth winner of the season and his 20th career success. With no declarations for the Mixed Open, seven-year-old Cappoquin was quickly re-saddled to walk over, this time with Will Biddick in the plate. The trainer gave the prize money earned for this race back to the Hunt.

Fredwal was left solo in the Intermediate when his sole rival Ball Hopper departed at the 15th, and Biddick’s treble was completed when Flanshan held the strong challenge of Not A Doctor to win the eight-runner Restricted.

Barney’s Mate (Harry Derham) looked like making it five for Seaborough until being squeezed for room and running out five jumps from home. The well backed Welsh challenger Pelennor (Bradley Gibbs) looked sure to take advantage, but was caught by the fast finishing Preacher Boy in the final strides.19-year-old Philip Prince was partnering his fourth winner of the season on grand old campaigner Preacher Boy, who was once placed in the Hennessy Gold Cup.

Jo Buck got the Leslie Jefford trained Doof home in the hunt race ahead of the Ed Walker trained Obamarama, and the lightly raced Madam Zola also kept Walker’s Ottery yard in the runner-up spot in the Open Maiden. The winner, bought by owner Steve Williams as a three-year-old, is only small but showed plenty of determination for her trainer/jockey Suzy Berry after making all the running.

STEVENSTONE POINT-TO-POINT BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY MAY 3RD

Fixture congestion caused by two successive bank holiday weekends, coupled with difficult ground conditions in the dry spell led to a distinct lack of runners.

Josh Guerriero and Micheal Nolan were the jockeys to follow at Vauterhill, winning five of the six races between them. Guerriero’s first success came when The Patriarch Game walked over for the Hunt race. The nine-year-old turned out again to beat Henri Prends Garde and Mistified in the Confined, making all the running and drawing clear of his opponents to score by 20 lengths.A tough gelding, the dual winner is trained by Jill Dennis at Bude for a large group of owners called The Swallowtail Partners, headed by Stevenstone point-to-point secretary Jane Wickett.

Guerriero’s other winner was Prince de Bersy who relished the firm ground to beat odds-on favourite Deimne and Hi Tech Man in the Mixed Open. Prince de Bersy is trained by Ashley Farrant for his joint owners Ruth Burrows and Ben Robarts. Ben normally rides the eight-year-old but is currently sidelined with an injured shoulder. Farrant said of his winner, “he had to be box rested for a month after damaging his coronet band in February and it is always difficult to get the weight off him.”

Micheal Nolan is the leading novice rider in the country, and his double took him to the 13-winner mark for the season. He partnered Midnight Marine to win the Restricted for joint owners Ray Burrow and Carol Norman, who purchased the Midnight Legend gelding last August. The young Irish jockey, who joined Philip Hobbs six months ago with three victories to his credit in his native country, followed up when Living The Dream took advantage of some wayward jumping from his sole opponent Party Pictures in the Intermediate.

Sweet or Chips fought off the challenge of Finisklintown and Lady Killer Queen to win the Open Maiden under Merv Woodward. The ten-year-old is trained at Wheddon Cross by Patrick Picton-Warlow for his mother Rosabelle. “It is her first ever winner. He has had a few problems and must have fast going,” remarked the trainer.