Junior jockeys race for Pony Club title

Rhys Flint charged to victory at the first national finals of the 2005 Charles Owen Pony Racing series at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday.

Flint, a member of the Llangeinor Hunt Pony Club, rode Tipsy Flint (pictured right) to victory at the home of the world famous Grand National, finishing just ahead of West Warwickshire’s Oliver Murphy.

Hadden Frost from the South Devon Hunt West took third on Miss Brady. Hadden, 14, is the son of trainer Jimmy Frost, who rode his first winner when he was just 13.

All-girl team Annabelle Heath from the North Shropshire Hunt and Milly were winners of the 138cm race for 11 to 13 year olds. Another Llangeinor Hunt member, Thomas Watkins took second and Elliot Coxon and Fairley Amari finished in third place.

The 2005 Charles Owen Pony Racing Series, supported by the racing industry and The Pony Club, is a talent-spotting initiative aimed at promoting and encouraging 11 – 15 year olds to become jockeys.

Other finalists included George Saunders, a close relation of the late Dick Saunders, who won the Grand National in 1982 on Grittar, and sisters Bridget and Georgina Andrews from Luton, Bedfordshire.

Photograph by Kit Houghton

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