Saturday was the first grass meeting of the Wales & Border Counties Harness Racing trotting season with the long-established Knighton committee acting as hosts on the Broadheath common track at Presteigne.

It was a glorious sunny afternoon which brought out a superb crowd with families enjoying a fun filled afternoon.

This week, the first race was the Grade B in which Luminite on his first outing of the season set off with determination, guided by the experienced Lee Price driving for Liz Collingwood from Huntington. They dictated the race winning in fine style. In second was last week’s winner Goodtime Hal this week driven by Lynne Boxhall for owner Richard Staples from Merthyr while the stylish Kentucky Roam (Perks, Presteigne) was third.

Grade B winner Luminite Knighton 210523
Grade B winner Luminite (Submitted)

In the Grade A the evergreen Lakeside Pan, always a firm favourite with the public, swept over the winning line to claim victory for long-time supporter John Elder from New Quay driven by Mathew Tromans from Newcastle Emlyn, while last week’s winner Happy Hands (Meaney & Harris, Merthyr) driven by Janet Thomas was second with local favourite Whiskyandwater (Morgan, Knighton) was third.

Ellavafella the homebred horse belonging to the Bevan family from Builth Wells and driven by Andrew Bevan on their first appearance this season, won the Novice race, with first time out Henrys Best (Williams, Llanafan) in second and back marker Zulu Warrior (Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn) was third.

240523 Novice Ellavafella
Novice winner Ellavafella (Submitted)

A full brother for the previous winner, Ellavalad, just two years younger won the Baby Novice race for new owner Lynne Boxhall from Brecon driven by Andrew Hardwick, in second was the front running Sally M (Davies, Ludlow), while Black Mambo (Meaney, Merthyr) ran on well to be third.

240523 Baby Novice Ellavalad
First in the Baby Novice was Ellavalad (Submitted)

The two Nursery races followed, these are for young horses as well as inexperienced drivers.

In the first race Red Regal repeated his efforts of last week to win for the Lloyd family from New Radnor driven by trainer Andrew Hardwick from Brecon.

240523 Nursery 1 Red Regal
Nursery 1 winner Red Regal (Submitted)

In second was Fold Megastar (Bird, Presteigne) with Magical Miss (Bevan, Builth Wells) on her first run in third.

In the second nursery it was Red Cash trained at the Hardwick stable in Brecon for Dave Sargeant from Newbridge driven this week by Lynne Boxhall who claimed victory ahead of newcomers Ithon Queen (Hawkes, Lyonshall) and Sam Reynolds with Brywins Saturn (Rowlands, Rhayader) in third.

240523 Nursery 2 Red Cash.
Nursery 2 winner Red Cash (Submitted)

The Consolation was next on the card this race giving a chance to horses that perhaps had suffered some bad luck in their earlier race and so it was that Stateside Icon (Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey) who had pulled up in his race because harness problems made good.

With driver Mark White in the seat coming home in front of GG Rogue (Gale, Gorslas) with Beg For Mercy (Tromans, Newcastle Emlyn) in third.

The final race of the day was the Free For All, this giving an opportunity for the premier horses to race on equal terms without reference to their handicap.

Ontop Shouder Cuda a horse that has been so impressive over the last two seasons ran a classic race to be first over the line driven by Andrew Hardwick for trainer/owner Jayne Bevan from Llanddewi with the Grade B Goodtime Hal (Staples, Merthyr) in second while the inform Happy Hands (Meaney& Harris, Merthyr were third.

So at the end of an exciting day of racing the next fixture is on Bank Holiday Monday when the action moves to Ceredigion with one of the oldest meetings of the season at Synod Inn May 29th starting at 1.30pm.

Results:

Grade B: 1 Luminite (Lee Price) owned & trained Collingwood, Huntington 2 Goodtime Hal 3 Kentucky Roam Time: 2:34.46

Grade A: 1 Lakeside Pan (Mathew Tromans) owned Elder New Quay trained Bevan Llanddewi 2 Happy Hands 3 Whiskyandwater Time: 2:35.31

Novice: 1 Ellavafella (Andrew Bevan) owned & trained Bevan, Builth 2 Henrys Best 3 Zulu Warrior Time: 2:37.18

Baby Novice: 1 Ellavalad (Andrew Hardwick) owned & trained Boxhall, Brecon 2 Sally M 3 Black Mambo Time: 2:45.78

Nursery – Race 1: 1 Red Regal (Andrew Hardwick) owned Lloyd, NewRadnor trained Hardwick, Brecon 2 Fold Megastar 3 Magical Miss Time: 2:55.45

Nursery – Race 2: Red Cash (Lynne Boxhall) owned Sargeant, Newbridge trained Hardwick Brecon 2 Ithon Queen 3 Brywins Saturn Time: 2:51.47

Consolation: 1 Stateside Icon (Mark White) owned & trained Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey 2 GG Rogue 3 Beg For Mercy Time: 2:43.59

Free For All: 1 Ontop Shouder Cuda (Andrew Hardwick) owned & trained Bevan, Llanddewi 2 Goodtime Hal 3 Happy Hands Time: 2:36.50