Garthorpe is a home game for us as it is only just over an hour away, this ensured that we had a full car, made up of family members, plus a dog! However, the search for an AGA Pointing dog goes on as this one was only borrowed for the day, although she (Pixie) managed to star in quite a few of our photographs, and she also thoroughly enjoyed her first visit to a point-to-point meeting, which started with a walk around the course.
When you walk the course with a photographer you know that there will be some decent photo opportunities, and Beazo didn't let us down! He has previous form with 'fence shots', having taken a few pics of Claire Hart at Chaddesley Corbett last season, which have never seen the light of day - sorry Claire, I've mentioned 'those pics' so I will have to publish at least one of them!
We took the first three fences at a reasonable pace, which steadied as we tkicked on up the home straight and we finished tailed off!
In the photo above Marcus and Pixie hold a narrow lead and AGA man has just pulled his stick through to his right hand as he goes for a gap between Wayne (far side) and Karen, with Mrs S showing signs that she needed the run!
We spotted our first pink AGA Home Business polo shirt of the day - sported by vet and lady rider Emma Garner, without an AGA ride today, but who had finished 2nd on Reelwill in our race at Thorpe Lodge. Emma and her pal Chrissie Sunderland also posted a photo on twitter and I couldn't resist pinching it for my blog!
Derek was the next one to find himself at the end of a lens for a great photo taken by Jackie Oliver, when trainer Adrian Wintle saw the pic his first comment was 'Bruce Willis eat your heart out!".
Jackie also took this photo of the AGA van as we were setting up (note the empty brochure holder) and she is adamant that we need to invest in a spirit level as a matter of urgency, although I think she was leaning as she took the photo!
Mrs S and her sister Karen took in some of the action from the platform outside the weighing room, two of our title challengers are also in the photo, one at either end - can you spot them?
We had seven declared for the AGA Ladies Open (from twelve) entries, and it looked like we were set for another competitive race, a feature of our series so far this season. All seven looked tremendous in the paddock and we were very taken by the size of the Williams horse, Hey Porter, he was huge and we were thinking that Jane would have her work cut out holding on to him.
A tweet during the week from Heather Kemp had warned me to watch out for the eyecatching new silks that would be sported by reigning AGA Total Control Champion Claire Hart on Ungaro, they were described as 'very bright', and they were! Please also take note of the trainers 'very bright' cords!
These two had a great battle for our Championship last season with the lead changing hands several times during April, come the end of the season I don't think they will be too far away this time around. The same can be said for the next two out, Angela Rucker (blue) and Gina Andrews, Gina is our current championship leader and a win today would put some daylight between her and the chasing pack.
Best turned out went to Osgood (below), who looked an absolute picture, Mrs S has really got her eye in this season and looks forward to choosing BTO, we generally agree but she has the final say.
Liz Harris (Osgood - green & yellow), Faye Conway (Osolomio - white, green star) and Rachel Talbot (Songe - pink, black star) were all looking to get off the mark for the season with their first points in the AGA Championship, and two of them would indeed get some points on the board.
The title for this post mentions an 'incident packed race', and the first incident of note involved our AGA Champion Claire Hart who dramatically parted company with Ungaro while leading as they were about to head out on the final circuit.
The second incident involved Angela Rucker and Sagalyrique, who ran out at the final fence as they were about to challenge Jane Williams and Hey Porter for the lead - a broken rein was to blame. We thought Jane would have trouble holding on to Hey Porter and she described her arms as feeling like jelly, comparing it to how your legs feel when you've had a long session in the gym (not that the AGA man would remember how that feels!).
Jane was delighted with the win, and the 10 points! She shot up the table from 18th to 3rd place and in doing so gave notice that the Williams title challenge was under way!
The discussion between mother and daughter before and during the presentation was about who would get the cast iron Coalbrookdale pot, with Jane laying claim to it ahead of winning owner Diana. A phone call to the AGA man an hour later would confirm that neither had the pot ... it was still in the secretary's room as both thought the other had picked it up. You'll be relieved to hear that the winning owner will be reunited with her fine piece of AGA cast iron at Brocklesby Park this weekend!
Pixie was a little bit camera shy in this shot - although she would soon make up for it, I think Mrs S had just told her that she wasn't the first dog to star in an AGA presentation photo this year.
Pixie wasn't the only dog to feature today, as Harry Skelton and his partner Bridget Andrews had brought their dogs - last seen on this blog at Cottenham in November. They also went away with a nice new piece of furniture courtesy of
Sally's Sporting Seats, who is a real favourite on the pointing circuit - and a favourite of ours as well. Sally is also the owner of a lovely new AGA cooker, we need more pointing folk to follow Sally's example and get their cheque books out - I always have a pen with me!
Sam Davies-Thomas and Harry Skelton had followed me round for most of the day asking for a photo with the dog, both insisting that I put her pink coat on. I was only too happy to oblige, giving Harry another opportunity to have his photo included in this blog (four at the last count).
Harry also asked for a photo next to an AGA sign but we only managed to get his legs in! The lorry park was our next port of call and Beazo was on top form - as always, he even got all of the names right this week (sorry John).
Pauline Harkin has also featured in the blog this season and as you can see we caught her as she was in the middle of entertaining her guests, groom Laura Horsfall was also happy to pose for a photo with the AGA man.
One of the classiest winners of the day was former World Hurdle winner My Way De Solzen, and connections mentioned that they were considering running him in some AGA Ladies races (with Lara Mahon up) so that they could qualify him for our final at Stratford - I hope they do! Ella Mahon (left) is pictured with the AGA man, with Kate Mahon and Alice Stevens (right).
Lizzie Harris and Sophie Jilkes were keen to get their hands on a pink AGA polo shirt, and it gave the AGA man another opportunity to feature a dog in a photo! This little lady may well make another appearance soon as part of the AGA Pointing team, we just need to find her an AGA coat!
Well, it was another successful day pointing for AGA, with a couple of very solid product enquiries that will hopefully lead to sales, and a very promising AGA Home Business enquiry. Lets hope for more of the same next weekend at Brocklesby Park, Whitwick Manor and Charm Park - a busy weekend ahead for the AGA team!
