Trotting this week returned to the Penybont course when Llandrindod committee were hosts of a very successful afternoon of racing.

The first race was the Nursery which is a race to introduce young horses to the sport. This week the ever improving Fold Showman owned by the Perks family from Presteigne and driven by Oliver (OJ) Jones were first to pass the post in front of Red Cash (Sargent, Newbridge) and Black Velvet II (Ward, Talsarn.

The next races were the Novice heats with the first won by Mathew Tromans from Newcastle Emlyn driving his own Zulu Warrior with Bethany (Weigle, Llanddewi Velfrey) second and long time leader Immortal Storm (Harris, Merthyr) in third.

In the second Novice heat Greenhill Gus driven by Oliver (OJ) Jones for the Dowse family from Aberystwyth took first place from Victoria Penlan (Thomas, Bridgend) and Lanehouse Girl (Lewis, Llanbister).

In the first Grade B heat Beg For Mercy driven by owner Mathew Tromans from Newcastle Emlyn was first ahead of Lawless (Elder, Blaencelyn) and No Stoppin (Greenway, Michaelchurch Eskley).

Kentucky Roam in the second B heat provided another win for the Perks family from Presteigne with Oliver (OJ) Jones on the seat, in second was the back marker Llwyns Mercy (Collingwood, Huntington) while the ever reliable Whiskyandwater (Morgan, Knighton) was third.

In the Grade A, the prestige race of the day, the wonder-horse, last week’s winner, Ontop Shouda Cuda off the ultimate trail of 60 yards came home in front for his connections the Bevan family from Llanddewi driven as usual by Lynne Boxhall from Brecon in second place was the veteran, another crowd favourite, Lakeside Pan (Elder, Newquay) with the honest little mare Second Affair (Perks, Presteigne) in third.

The first Baby Novice race was won by Carrie on Fred driven by Andrew Hardwick for the Middleton family from Llandrindod, in second was the slightly erratic Ithon Papa (Rowlands, Rhayader) while Woodstone Miranda (Hughes, New Radnor) was third.

Blackberry won the second Baby Novice race for Helen Williams from Llanafan with Lee Price at the controls, beating Easy Connection (Chetter, Cannock) with Dernol Ebony (Staples, Merthyr) in third.

The saddle race is always popular and this week was no exception as the big handicap gave Ontop Shouda Cuda a lot to do but he with owner Jayne Bevan on board just claimed victory from Jayne’s niece Ceri Bevan on Easy Company while Martha Duggan on George Gentle had to be content with third.

In the Novice final Mathew Tromans notched up another win with his own Zulu Warrior just in front of Greenhill Gus (Dowse, Aberystwyth) with Victoria Penlan (Thomas, Pontyridd) in third. This gave Mathew Tromans a treble of wins on the day.

In the Grade B final the little mare Llwyns Mercy proved she loves this unique track, repeating her win at the last meeting at this venue much to the delight of owner Elizabeth Collingwood from Huntington and ably driven by Lee Price, in second was Kentucky Roam (Perks, Presteigne) while Beg For Mercy (Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn was third. Llwyns Mercy will now take her place among the premiere division of Grade A horses.

The final race of the day was the mile and a half this proved another exciting race with the Perks family’s consistent little mare, Second Affair adding to her season’s tally, driven as usual by Oliver (OJ) Jones, in second was Alibis Dream (Lloyd, Gladestry) while Dernol Yankee (Wozencraft, Llangurig) was third. This gave Oliver his fourth winner of the day.

Wales & Border Harness Racing’s next meeting will be at Presteigne on Broadheath Common on Saturday starting at 1.30pm.

Results:

Nursery

1 Fold Showman (Oliver (OJ) Jones) owned & trained Perks, Presteigne 2 Red Cash 3 Black Velvet II Time: 2:38.37

Novice – heat 1

1 Zulu Warrior (Mathew Tromans) owned & trained Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn 2 Bethany 3 Immortal Storm Time: 2:30.47

Novice – heat 2

1 Greenhill Gus (Oliver (OJ) Jones) owned & trained Dowse, Aberystwyth 2 Victoria Penlan 3 Lanehouse Girl Time: 2:32.9

Grade B – heat 1

1 Beg For Mercy (Mathew Tromans) owned & trained Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn 2 Lawless 3 No Stoppin Time: 2:29.59

Grade B – heat 2

1 Kentucky Roam (Oliver (OJ) Jones owned & trained Perks, Presteigne 2 Llwyns Mercy 3 Whiskyandwater Time: 2:29.71

Grade A

1 Ontop Shouda Cuda (Lynn Boxhall) owned & trained Bevan, Llanddewi 2 Lakeside Pan 3 Second Affair Time: 2:25.18

Baby Novice – race 1

1 Carrie on Fred (Andrew Hardwick) owned & trained Middleton, Llandrindod 2 Ithon Papa 3 Woodstone Miranda Time: 2:31.96

Baby Novice – race 2

1 Blackberry (Lee Price) owned & trained Williams, Llanafan 2 Easy Connection 3 Dernol Ebony Time: 2:33.00

Saddle

1 Ontop Shouda Cuda (Jayne Bevan) owned & trained Bevan Llanddewi 2 Easy Company 3 George Gentle Time: 2:29.06

Novice Final

1 Zulu Warrior (Mathew Tromans) owned & trained Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn 2 Greenhill Gus 3 Victoria Penlan Time: 2:29.72

Grade B Final

1 Llwyns Mercy (Lee Price) owned & trained Collingwood, Huntington 2 Kentucky Roam 3 Beg For Mercy Time: 2:31.2

Mile and a half

1 Second Affair (Oliver (OJ) Jones owned & trained Perks, Presteigne 2 Alibis Dream 3 Dernol Yankee