Micky Hammond Racing had three runners at Pontefract over the course of both April meetings, they initially had four until one of the races was abandoned due to the ground conditions being declared wet and unsafe.
Dream debut for Justus
A bright and clear Tuesday afternoon kicked off the first of sixteen Flat Turf race meetings planned over this year. Hammond only had one runner on April 2nd, debutant Justus for owners Ryder and Alex Sugden.
6 year old Justus was born in Ireland and transferred to trainer Micky Hammond following his departure from Ian Williams where he had only ran on four occasions after a lengthy break due to having wind surgery.
Prior to his debut at Pontefract Justus had only previously ran at Doncaster, Wetherby, Kelso and Catterick racecourses, with the latter being where Emma Smith-Chatson rode him to his first winning ride under his new trainers after beating second place by three lengths.
Apprenticeship jockey Aiden Brookes also from Ireland took on the responsibility of riding Justus on his debut race in the Jamaican Flight Handicap (Round 1 Of The Pontefract Stayer’s Championship 2024).
It was also the first time that Brookes had ridden Justus and what an unbelievable ride it was, Pontefract is the longest flat-circuit in Europe with a total length of 2 metres and 2 furloughs. There were only five runners across the race but Aiden kept himself and Justus racing on the inner side of the rail and steadied his pace until he turned towards the home straight where he powered on through to the winning post in the dark blue and yellow colours of his breeders LNJ Foxwoods.
Speaking post-race owner Ryder Sugden and trainer Micky Hammond gave their initial reaction to Justus’s second win over the flat turf.
Young guns score big
Fast forward a couple of weeks and Micky and the team were back at a very wet looking Pontefract with two promising talents, Fiftyshadesaredev and Thursday’s Child.
Up first it was Fiftyshadesaredev who lived up to his name with plenty of different shades of grey in him. Nicknamed “The Happy Man” he appeared to thoroughly enjoy his first ride back around the famous old track, even placing third in the 3.55pm Bowel Cancer Screening Programme Save Lives (Division II) following a 276 day break after having surgery to repair his front feet.
Billy Garritty and Thursday’s Child didn’t let the rain dampen their spirits ahead of the penultimate race of the day as they went on to win 5pm Constant Security Services Fillies’s Novices Stakes in comfortable fashion after going clear of second placed Monstar Dreams in the final 110 yards.
In the colour of contrasting greens, three year old Thursday’s Child has had an impressive start to her racing career for owners Sharp Hill Thoroughbreds having only ran in two races in her lifetime and being victorious in each of them. The first coming at Newcastle’s March meeting where she was considered an outsider after being placed at 66/1 odds by the bookmakers the second-highest in the race but still managed to outrun the favourite ‘Absolute Star’ by a single length.
The long standing history of the racecourse
Pontefract racecourse is one of the oldest tracks in Britain with the first ever recorded meeting in the calendar taking place in 1801. However there is evidence to suggest that racing occurred much earlier than that and dated back to the English Civil War up until the local Castle was under siege by the forces of Oliver Cromwell. Races were held in the surrounding meadows but were discontinued by 1769 until the nearby residency restarted the sport 32 years later where the racing remains to the present day. The course was also used throughout World War II and some major races like the Lincoln Handicap for example were transferred to Pontefract whilst other sites were out of action during the conflict.
During those days a trip to the races was a popular source of entertainment for the close-by workforce. The traditional afternoon races meetings started later than most other courses since the track was situated in the vicinity of the Prince of Wales colliery. This then allowed the miners to attend the races after their morning shifts, these timings remained in place up until the colliery closed in 2002.
Today the racecourse is Europe’s longest circuit with a distance stretching over two-miles and two furloughs however that wasn’t always the case, the track was originally only a mile-and-a-half and shaped in a horseshoe shape until the extension took place in 1983.
Micky Hammond’s team are hoping for more winners at the next Pontefract meeting in early May.
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