Friday 18 October 2013

Final Fixture of 2013

The successful season of summer jump racing at Worcester reaches a climax with the final meeting on Wednesday 23rd October.

Entries are strong for what promises to be a very exciting day.  The card includes three annual memorial races, including the feature Fred Rimell Memorial Novices Chase commemorating the training achievements of the five times champion trainer who won the Grand National on four separate occasions.  The race, which was won last year by the Venetia Williams trained Houblon Des Obeaux, has been a stepping stone to better things in the past for horses such as The Giant Bolster, Pride of Dulcote and Idle Talk.

The Richard Davis Memorial Handicap Chase remembers the talents of the jockey who so sadly lost his life during a race.  Each year we welcome Richard’s parents, John and Ann and his twin brothers, Stephen and Andrew to Worcester to present the magnificent Philip Blacker bronze trophy in Richard’s memory.
The annual Richard Wright Memorial Handicap Chase remembers the local businessman who had a love for racing and deep affection for Worcestershire.

The Red Mills sponsored Leading Trainer award will be presented to runaway winner, Jonjo O’Neill on Wednesday, however second place honours to be decided between Peter Bowen and Tim Vaughan will go to the wire as they are currently neck and neck in the table.

The Leading Jockey is also a foregone conclusion as champion Tony McCoy had this all sewn up from midway through the season.  Nearest rival, Sam Twiston-Davies currently stands in second place, with Richard Johnson in third.

The jockey.co.uk sponsor the stable staff awards at Worcester each season and offer two awards, one for yards with thirty or more horses in training and one for yards with less.  The first award will also be decided on Wednesday as there are just three points currently separating the yards of Jonjo O’Neill, Donald McCain and Tim Vaughan.  The second award looks a clear run thing for newcomer to the training ranks, Sarah-Jayne Davies who had her first ever winner under rules at Worcester in the summer.

As the curtain falls on the 2013 season, there is so much to look forward to in 2014.  With the new fixture list confirmed, Worcester will stage more fixtures than we have for a good number of years, all pointing to a busy summer on the banks of the river Severn.

The full list of 2014 fixtures will be on the website shortly and announced immediately after via our social media feeds.