Part 1 of the AGA title goes to Yorkshire and the AGA cooker goes to the South Midland

AGA final exceeds all expectations with a thrilling finish as the lady riders take centre stage at the home of jump racing!

Words by yours truly, with the mood of the evening captured via a series of marvellous photographs taken by our very own John "Beazo" Beasley, and Jackie Oliver - with a few from me thrown in for good measure! 

AGA Pointing arrive early for the big day
Was I looking forward to this evening? The answer to that question is a resounding yes! After five months of hard graft the big day had arrived and I had three things on my wish list:


1 - All of our guests would have a night to remember
2 - The lady riders would savour every moment
3 - Our series would end on a high  


Arriving early was always going to be the plan so myself and Mrs S met up with Derek just after 1.30 with the car and van packed full of goodies for the AGA room. Driving straight in through the gates we parked up by the grandstand and took everything up to National Hunt Room 1 (our home for the evening). Well, that's what should have happened but we locked the vehicles and headed straight for the parade ring!

Beazo, Derek and Mrs S stride across the hallowed turf - 
before changing into their race day outfits

This was too good an opportunity to miss and having spotted the flowing locks of Beazo in the distance we hailed him and he joined us to take in the atmosphere. This was a day off for Derek and for the first time this season he did not have to erect the AGA branding, however, he was still casting a critical eye over the efforts of the RTA team! As we strode around the parade ring Derek was convinced that he had found the exact spot where Big Bucks had walked and he also reeled off the names of some of the greats who had graced this hallowed turf.

Looking good - the winners podium with lots of strategically placed AGA banners!

Mrs Kemp wins the last one before the AGA final - and Emily MacMahon also bags a win at Whitfield as our season ends on a high ... Cheltenham here we come!

Our 50th meeting of the season was something of a home game for us as we had the luxury of setting off after midday! The weather was rubbish (boy was it cold), and we ensured that the car was parked facing downhill as on our last visit to Whitfield we had needed the services of a local tractor driver and our tow rope made its seasonal debut!

This popular venue is one of my personal favourites and it was a pleasure to meet so many familiar faces who were genuinely delighted to see us. One such familiar face was a lady I have worked closely with since August of last year, Heather Kemp, and her ride in the ladies open - Gidam Gidam, was quietly fancied by one or two shrewd judges.  

A very happy Emily MacMahon and that fella from AGA

Twelve lady riders who have helped to make this first ever AGA Total Control Lady Riders' Championship so successful

**tip - click on any image to enlarge it

During the past five months I have been fortunate enough to really get to know our top lady riders. As part of the build-up to our final I have taken a more in depth look at the title contenders and some of the ladies who are just off the pace with a light-hearted feature that gives an insight into their lives.  This includes what they enjoy doing outside of racing - which invariably involves a party or two (when there is time of course), and what they do for a day job - which invariably involves horses! The thing they all have in common is that they are dedicated to the "job" and are passionate about it, they are also incredibly brave and funny. 

Twelve of the lady riders are featured below, including all seven who were featured in our Racing Post Weekender advertorial piece on the "title contenders", which is in this weeks paper - and can also be viewed on this blog. It was certainly fun putting this together and I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the ladies who gave up their time to help me it, I hope the end result meets with your approval!