THE Kington and Vale of Arrow races were held at Evenjobb Court on a glorious afternoon of hazy sunshine, just right for racing last Saturday.

This is one of the oldest meetings in the area and it still draws a good crowd of spectators as well as plenty of horses.

Three nurseries gave good opportunities for the young horses entering the sport in the first the horse belonging to the Thomas family from Llanbister, Ithon JR took first place ahead of Ken Lloyd New Radnor’s West End Kiki with Turn the Paige (Perks Prsteigne) in third. Hyar Truly the homebred from the Thomas stable at Tregroes came home in front of Life Today (Hughes Builth) and Ladyford John (Duggan Llangunllo).

While Meadowland Olympic (Evans Newcastle Emlyn) took the honours in the third race from Ithon Legacy (Hardwick & Jones Llanbister) with Ceiron Blue Boy (Weigel Llanddewi Velfrey) in third.

Three Novice heats were the first races for the punters with the first heat going to the in-form Zestthewayilikeit with local owner Oliver (OJ) Jones from Evenjobb on board, in second was Knights Templar (Williams Shrewsbury) while Brywins Sweetheart (Marr Ammanford) was third. It was the well fancied Rhyds Backchat (Elder Blaencelyn) with Derek Pritchard in the seat who won the second Novice heat from Immortal Breeze (Williams Llanafan) and Dan (Rowlands Talsarn).

Cardigan Boy with owner Tracy Gale from Gorslas ran a superb race to win the last Novice heat coming home in front of Purple Connection (Williams Llanwern) while Blackfield Judy (Barton Clynderwen) was third.

For One Night Only with owner Rhun Wilson at the controls took the first heat of the Grade B from Habberley Haste (Lloyd New Radnor) with the speedy Jango Fett (Hitchcock Haverfordwest) in third. Meadowland Maverick (Jones Evenjobb) clocked up another win for his young owner in the second heat with Chinatown Lucky (Williams Pencader) in second and the ever reliable Blackfield Buddy (Barton Clynderwen) in third.

In the third Grade B heat Habberly Playboy (Johns & Gittins Shrewsbury) were victorious aided by trainer Derek Pritchard in the seat, in second was Fold the Notes (Perks Presteigne) while Camden Lock (Lloyd Kington) was third.

The first Grade A heat saw Best of the Fleet and owner Matt Lewis from Welshpool prove they were the best of the bunch, beating Cloudburst (Perfect Longmains) and the much improved Dernol Duke (Perks Presteigne). Ithon Inmate (Price Brecon) and trainer Derek Pritchard made little of their twenty yard trail to win the second Grade A heat from Bon Jasper (Jones Llanllwni) and Lakeside Pan (Elder New Quay).

The first baby Novice race saw little Miss Jackson driven by owner Andrew Bevan from Maesmynis run a gutsy race to beat Andrew’s nephew Gareth Bevan on Top Secret (Pugh Clifford) while Lanehouse Patch (Thomas Merthyr) claimed third. Touch of Chaps showed plenty of class in the second Baby Novice race to give driver Rhun Wilson another win ahead of Lakeside Glory (Jones Brecon) with Dreamfair Jack (Bevan Builth) in third.

This win gives Touch of Chaps his ticket into the Novice section.

In the saddle race Meadowland Hasty (Price Brecon) ran an impressive race with jockey Bridget Lewis coming home in front of the fast finishing Wellfieldlifestyle (Edmunds Porthcawl) with George Gentle (Lewis Welshpool) running a good race in third.

In the junior race Bridget’s daughter Anna Lewis from Efailwen partnered the speedy Brywins Jo Jo (Jones Ammanford) to a good win in front of the determined Miss Jackson (Rachel Bevan-Thomas) with Precious Cargo and Izzy John in third the two other jockeys Ceri Bevan (Beacon Sorcerer) and Ellie Tromans (Ithon Gypsy) followed in close behind.

The afternoon finished with the three finals.

In the Novice final Derek Pritchard on Rhyds Backchat (Elder Blaencelyn) dominated the race to win convincingly from Zestthewayilikeit (Jones Evenjobb) while Brywins Sweetheart (Marr Ammanford) was third. This gave Derek a total of four wins in the afternoon. In the Grade B final Habberley Haste (Lloyd New Radnor) and Andrew Hardwick burst up the home straight to claim victory from For One Night Only (Wilson Llanfihangel ar arth) while Jango Fett (Hitchcock Haverfordwest) was third.

In the Grade A final it was the relatively inexperienced Matt Lewis from Welshpool with his own Best of the Fleet that claimed the ultimate prize of the afternoon so giving them a worthy double, in second was Scoobys Dream (Williams Brecon) while Strike a Light (Meaney Merthyr) was third.

This weekend racers will travel to Ceredigion to the prestigious Talgarreg meeting celebrating 25 years of racing success on Sunday June 12th starting at 1.30pm.