The night was memorable for so many reasons. Les Fell and family decided to retire Scoot Around last night, the horse was paraded to the crowd and received plaudits and trophies for its marvellous contribution to harness racing. This 12 year old has held British and Tir Prince records on numerous occassions and in its 35 wins and £60,000 of prize money it won two memorable Crock of Gold finals at Tir Prince, a very hard act to follow.

In the Crock of Gold final we witnessed as good a race as you will ever see and at the final bend only a few lenghts separated all 7 horses, the pace was set by the under rated Bon Jasper and a 57.3 seconds half mile took the sting out of the field but two myths were broken in this race, first you cant win a top race drawn 7 and that fillies can beat the colts because the marvellous Laneside Lexus from position 7 just pipped Matador Hall, Forafewdollarsmore and Crown Manhattan on the line with only a head and a neck separating them and a British record for a fillie, 1.573 what a race and what a horse.

Rocker Laidlaw had an historic hat-trick of wins winning all three live races giving Sheila B Devotion a masterful drive beating a field of 11 in the Trot Britain one mile free for all trot and driving Stoneriggs Mystery to a wonderful win in the Billy Williams free for all pace in the second fastest time ever recorded at Tir Prince, 1.566. In fact he started the meeting off in fine style driving Duggans Pride to victoryin the maiden race.

The Young Welsh Dragon colts final was won by Vicky Gill on Camden Daniel and Mick Lord gave Lyons Pendyffryn a good drive in the grade 1 pace.

Race 4 saw a fabulous race with Ian Pimlott on Southlands Dillinger just caught on the line by the fast finishing Colonel Mustard driven by Richard Haythornthwaite and Chris Nicol came second on Penguins Can Dance. The last race before the live tv races was won comfortably by the hugely impressive Change the Locks in 1.589 from Ayr Mission. This horse has the potential to win a future Crock of Gold.

Full results are shown below

The draw was made in front of the crowd and when it was time for the Crock of Gold heat draw there was a real sennse of drama as it was the last chance for some of the fancied horses to qualify for the finals on 31st august at Tir Prince. 1st out Crown Manhattan draw 5, then For A Few Dollars more draw 6, then Doonbeg drawn 7 there were gasps form the crowd and an an anxious smile on the face of Claire Fletcher as her horse drawn out last the prime draw number 1, so the race was set up to be a cracker. But first we had 6 races to contend with and the Prakas Trot was a cracking finish with Spike just edging out Royal Return on the line, then an imperious drive for Pam Haythornthwaite on the maiden Coalford JD who led from the front and finished in 2.02. The low grade pace pitched 2 horses that love the track Colonel Mustard and Southlands Dillinger and this week Paul Holden asked Ian Pimlott to drive and he just edged Colonel Mustard into 2nd in a quick time of 2.01. The 4 year old fillies race over 1.5 miles was an expected win for the fabulous Rhyds Hasty Affair, thats 5 wins in 5 and a very decent time of 3.04 for the longer distance. The Colts race over the same distance was a much more open affair and after a cracking race Richard on Sierra Romeo deputising for his dad Alan Haythornthwaite just pippedthe favourite Pans Landing into 2nd with Ayr Miles just behind in 3rd.

The Len Bach 1 mile pace was eagerly awaited as the 1st appearance of Change the Locks was giving a start to a number of good horses. From 20 yards back the Dunne’s horse stormed into the lead and the time for the 1st half of 59.3 (adjusted time of approx 57.9) passinf 5 or 6 horses in the process but with the race at its mercy it went into a break with 3 furlongs to go anRichard Haythornthwaite took full advantage and was first with Oakview Duke finishing fast in 2nd place. The Haythornthawaites and the Fletchers night was to get even better as their horse Matador Hall expertly driven by Willy Drysdale led from the front in the Crock of Gold heat and with a slender lead coming rounf the final bend gave a great turn of speed to win comfortably in 1.581 from the 3 fancied Irish horses with Doonbeg just getting the better of Crown Manhattan and Forafewdollarsmore, in 2nd 3rd and 4th respectively.

The final race of the night was an 8 off the gate preferred open handicap saw a win for the Martins from Northern Ireland when Angelas Cosmo won in 1.596 from Valhalla and Ayr Mission. The final race meeting at Tir Prince will be on 31st August, entries are being taken now by Eric Witherspoon. The full results are below

Ayr Mission won the Welh Cup, Uffra’s Girl was never threatened in the big trot and Rhyds Puzzle won the Billy Williams. Full results and photos will be available on Wednesday.

The 7 card meeting was another high quality meeting with notable victories for the imperious For A Few Dollars more who smashed the one mile record only set 2 weeks ago by winning the Crock of Gold heat in 1 minute 56.2 seconds, 2.5 lengths ahead of Britain’s fastest horse Eaned Income who was also under the old record in 1.567.

The George Dixon Memorial One Mile free for all trot was won by Tir Prince’s horse of the year Uffra’s Girl in 2.013 a new track record from the UK record holder Need For Run, Bill Dixon put up £2000 in prize money and the family were really pleased with the fabulous race.

In the earlier races we saw a couple of sensational maiden horses, Lyons Erryl Hall a 3 year old in its first race won by 12 lenghts in 2.026 but this was bettered just half an hour later when Match That driven by Alan Haythornthwaite set an unofficial record for Maidens in 2.016. There were also good wins for Harbinger in the Len Bach, Grinnin CT, and in the closest race of the night Oakview Duke beat its full brother Oakview Princess by a neck with Colonel Mustard only a head behind in third.

Full results below

The full results are shown below.

David Senior comments “There was a good holiday crowd together with a knowledgable trotting contingent watching a very competitive nights racing.

The night started with a maiden race all racing for the first time. The race was dominated from lanes 5 and 6 Poet Chi in Motion and Forgeside Dot Com taking them out in 30 seconds for the first quarter. In the end Vicky Gill on Poet Chi in Motion just pipped Marc Jones on Forgeside Dot Com into second, Mick Lord finished strong on Rhyds Topaz in 3rd but left himself too much to do. In the low grade trot John Foy led from start to finsih on Lindys Proud, its first UK start beating Paul Brightwell on Emerald Tara Jane and Paul Mather on Sheila B Devotion into 2nd and 3rd.

The 3rd race saw a low grade pace with a mix of maidens and low grades. Joe Ripley on Flashman took them out at an unsustainable 28.8 and 60.3 seconds for the 1/4 nad 1/2 mile but faded into 4th but this was only its 2nd race and is bound to win soon. In the end the more experienced Brywins Thats Life driven by the even more experienced Ian Pimlott won in 2.041 5 lenghts ahead of American Gigolo and King of the Wind.

We knew from that time the track was quickening and the 4th race saw Alan Haythornthwaite on My Immortal win a cracking race in 2.023 (giving 10 yards) beating Marc Jones into another 2nd on Wexford Beach with Colin Bevan on Mahogany Import (a further 10 yards back) into 3rd.

Alan had a second winner in the next race on the impressive Whitestar Hanover in 2.028 (from the 10 yard line) from the just as impressive Marc Jones on Eternall Lobell in 2.033 from the 30 yard line, bad luck for Marc with three 2nds but I am sure his luck will change soon. The well fancied Coalford Bubbagump was in 3rd.

The final race pitched the Tir Prince and UK 1 1/4 mile track record holder He’s For Real against a strong field in a 1 mile preferred free for all. This is a real class horse having won over £80,000 his cause helped by a lift in the handicap because the horse has just turned 10 year old. The race was taken out a cracking pace by Willy Armer on Cutchall Hanover in 29.2, 59.7 and 1.289 this horse has race sub 1.59 here so this pace was sustainable but approaching the final turn all six horses were in contention and it was impossible to pick a winner but unfortunately Cutchall  broke and had to drop back but still finished 4th. The pace was now taken up by Jonathan Dunne on the majestic He’s For Real who put in a spurt that broke the field and it eased up winning in 1.587. Mick Lord was finishing really strong on Rhyds Desire who finished 2 lenghts behind in 1.591 with a further 3 lenghts to Pam Haythornthwaite on Scoot around again finishing like a train in 1.597.

The next meeting is a Crock of Gold meeting on Monday 5th July following Aberystwyth when I hope as amny as possible will stop here on their way home for what should be a top class meeting. I hope this year we will see the first 1.56 race in the UK at Tir Prince this year.”