While I fully recognise that every racehorse owner dreams of owning a future Grand National winner, I’m well aware that many horses -and therefore their owners - compete in lower grade (amateur) racing.

These owners support racing for the love of horses and of the sport - often with barely any financial return and they are the foundation of the industry: they are the grassroots owners and we must remember, it takes the same amount of money to keep a horse in training if it’s a Grand National or Derby winner, or if it can only trail home last in a seller.

Despite more than an inch of rain falling in the early hours, the South Pembrokeshire Hunt enjoyed a full card of point to point steeplechases in surprisingly good conditions for their usual fixture at Lydstep on Easter Monday.

Still the biggest one day outdoor sports day of the year in the county, the event again attracted supporters from more than a 100-mile radius who enjoyed some really thrilling races with very close finishes.

The Lydstep course, first opened almost 70 years ago, is slightly undulating and almost square with two particularly tight bends which, some consider, do not suit big long-striding horses.

Jim Prosser from the Vale of Glamorgan commented: “I love the visuals of steeplechasing… I love the camaraderie and good sportsmanship of steeplechasing: the pride of owners and trainers as their horses parade in the paddock, the love for the horses in their care by grooms … the exhilaration when horses go well and return safely and, not least, the peer support when things don’t go well…”

Local trainers and riders achieved good results throughout the card, notably John Mathias riding the South Pembrokeshire qualifier, Mr. D. H. Llewellyns’s Rosie’s Peacock, to the 13-year-old bay gelding’s 31st win. Jodie Hughes was a comfortable winner of the Ladies race on the French bred nine-year-old Tony Star-owned by Mickey Bowen and there was an intense challenge right up to the flag as D. Rees’s Irish bred Sandeel Bay, after a long absence from training, beat Mary and Billy Evans’s seven-year-old bay mare Mountain of Angels by just a head.

Race results:

Members (sponsored by Owen & Owen, Chartered Surveyors) - 1. Full Print (Evan David); 2. Harpsycord (John Mathias).

Open Maiden over 2.5 miles (Castlemorris Equestrian and Pet Feeds) - 1. Constantine Bay (John Mathias); 2. Midnight Bliss (Richard Patrick); 3. Get a move on (Wayne Maskell).

Ladies’ Open (Lydstep Beach Village and Starre Gorse Holiday and Caravan Park) - 1. Tony Star (Jodie Hughes); 2. Watch the Birdie (Hannah Lewis); 3. Tiger Rag (Tabatha Worsley).

Open Maiden over three miles (Ungoed-Thomas & King) - 1. Sandeel Bay (Wayne Maskell); 2. Mountain of Angels (Hannah Lewis); 3. To Hell and Back (Mark Robinson).

Men’s Open (NFU Mutual (Pembroke), Whitewell Holiday Park and The Sun Inn/T Cars) - 1. Rosie’s Peacock (John Mathias); 2. Boyfromnowhere (Tom David); 3. Lamboro Lad (Peter Bryan).

Intermediate (Welsh Game Fair) - 1. Frelia (Bradley Gibbs); 2. Withoutdefavourite (John Mathias); 3. Always a Chance (Hector Worsley).

Restricted (Peter Graham’s Big Brum’s Superstore) - 1. Captain Camelot (Tom David); 2. Shanks a Lot (John Mathias); 3. Ifyouthinkso (Charlotte Evans).

Two pony races (sponsored by C. W. Horseboxes and Robin Williams, Farrier) completed the card.

The next point to point meeting over the Lydstep course will be organised jointly by the Tivyside & Carmarthenshire Hunts on Sunday, April 24.

REPORT AND PICTURES BY MEYRICK BROWN