'IT was the thrill of a lifetime, he was brilliant,' was the comment made after Carrie Ford of Little Budworth equalled the best-ever position returned by a woman jockey in the John Smith's Aintree Grand National back in April when riding Forest Gunner.
This world-class achievement ranks as number one looking back over the highlights featured in the Racing Diary covering 2005 and is a credit to Richard Ford and his training to produce Forest Gunner at his peak.
Staff from Chester racecourse travelled across to Ireland back in the spring and were successful in attracting top calibre horses to run at the prestigious May Festival meeting where prize money amounted to £750,000 over the three-day meeting. Gypsy King, trained by Aidan O'Brien encountered the tight Roodee bends when galloping to a short-head victory in the Heathcote Dee stakes en-route to finishing fifth in the premier classic race, the Epsom Derby.
The Roodee continues to feature prominently in the social calendar of the area with a total of 256,591 enthusiasts passing through the gates during 2005. A total of 63,274 people enjoyed the May meeting, an increase of 4% on 2004.
Local owners enjoyed success at Chester in July. Brace of Doves, returned at 12-1, won the opener at the final evening meeting of the season for David Jones of Delamere.
At the Blue Square festival in August, Graham Povey of Lache Lane celebrated the victory of Flying Key.
Trainer Alan Bailey of Tarporley ended the Chester season with a satisfying day when Golden Boots was victorious in the Lindop Toyota Handicap Stakes and the gelding may be trained for the Chester Cup next year.
Looking ahead to 2006, the first fixture in the area is scheduled for Friday, February 10 at Bangor-on-Dee. For the first time there will be a Sunday meeting at the popular rural venue on Sunday, March 5.
Amberleigh House put himself back in the picture for the 2006 John Smith's Aintree Grand National with a good performance in the Becher Chase last month. The race was part of the new Masters Weekend and the veteran showed he was no spent force keeping up with the pace to finish seventh.
