By Mike Drowne

A sun kissed Wadebridge held the first Point to Point fixture of the Devon and Cornwall area in 2025 on Sunday and it was business as usual, with Josh Newman starting where he left off.

The rider enjoyed a fruitful day at their December meeting, training five winners, four of which he rode and he landed the first race of the day on Sunday, the Moores of St Wenn Conditions race (Level 3) Holiday Fund, who was priced at 11-4. Jet Smart was the hot favourite and looked to oblige, however Josh Newman, who also trains the gelding, used his experience and delivered his mount with a late rattle to deny the favourite by a neck. Reflecting on the success, Josh said: “That gave me a good kick, I didn’t think we could beat Jet smart on form. He (Jet Smart) had a hard race two weeks ago at Chaddesley Corbett so maybe that made the difference.”

The second race on the card, was the JB Estates Conditions (Level 2) for Novice riders. Fighter Allin and the King’s Writ renewed rivalry, the latter had beaten the former by 17 lengths at the last meeting and was 5-4 to win again. The pair engaged in a battle once more and pulled clear of the rest of the field but it was 6-4 shot, Fighter Allin whom came off the better and won by four lengths under Rian Corcoran and trained by David Pipe. The track has been a lucky one for the rider and reflecting on his success he said: “I was in front a lot sooner then I wanted to be, he travelled and jumped and got me there too soon. He grabbed at the second last and then got tight to the last and idled to the line with me but he’s a nice pointer. It’s been a lucky course for me, every time I have been here I have rode a winner, this is my fourth win here now.”

Race three was the Kivells Mixed Open, 11 runners and riders went to post for the feature race and it produced a titanic battle for the honours. Sidi Ismael was clear heading to the open ditch for the final time but a mistake at the island fence handed the initiative to his nearest pursuers, Hearts Corner, Dalamoi and 12-year-old Dr Rhythm was running well. Hearts Corner briefly took the lead heading down the hill but Dalamoi took the lead jumping four out and from there, he did battle with Sidi Ismael and the running on Dr Rhythm. Dalamoi, who is a half-brother to Don Poli stayed on the best to win by a neck from Sidi Ismael. Winning trainer, Tim Vaughan, whom had made the journey from Wales, said, “The gang at home have done a good job with him. Lucinda, my head girl rides him out every day and has done her own thing with him. He’s tricky to keep happy and healthy but he’s got loads of ability. He’s a big old boy so it's trying to give him enough work without putting pressure on him.”

Race 4 sprung a 50-1 surprise when King De Palma landed the Heltor four, five and six year old Maiden. The gelding showed rapid improvement from his last run when finishing fourth at the track in December to beat the 2-1 favourite, Ted The Thief by a length under Jake Bament, who is fresh from recent success under rules. The rider said “He’s a nice horse and has come on a lot from his run here last time. He jumps for fun and travelled throughout on testing ground and got every yard of the 3 miles today.”

Trainer Megan Lawrence was having her second ever winner, following on from Minella Jab, who also won at Wadebridge last season. Reflecting on the success the young handler said: “Truthfully, we haven't done anything differently with him. He was entered for Great Trethew but we never took him because he was coughing, he got over it relatively quickly so we were able to run him last time but he had missed a bit of work. For this meeting, we were lucky he was in good health and the recent snow and ice didn’t affect any of his work too much so he was able to show us what we hoped was in there! We would have been happy with a one place improvement so to win was quite unexpected.”

The fifth race was the Lodge and Thomas Restricted Race and it saw Clondaw Drake and Josh Newman follow up from their success at the previous Wadebridge meeting. The gelding is owned by John and Sonia Gardner, who have been big supporters of Point To Pointing for many years and they are certainly getting repaid, with Clondaw Drake winning all three of his races this season. After the race in which he won by 5 lengths from Designer Destiny, Josh said: “Clondaw Drake was good again today, I wasn’t really pleased with him going down the hill, he was trying to tuck in behind the other horses, but jumping three out I thought I would pick them up as long as I came off the bend alright. Once I jumped up past the others I thought unless something behind me was going equally as well then, he should keep going.”

I thought Liwah, also trained by Josh Newman was a horse to take out of the race and ran well to finish third at odds of 16-1.

The sixth and final race of the day was the Nare Hotel maiden for seven year olds and over, it capped another fruitful day at Wadebridge for Josh Newman. The 32-year-old rode and trained Noble Blue to an impressive victory. Easily the most eye-catching performance of the day, Noble Blue cruised to the line 11 lengths clear of his nearest pursuer, Master McShine victory. It is hard to gauge how good the performance was due to six of his rivals being pulled up, leaving only two finishers, however visually it was very good. Reflecting on the performance Josh said, “It was a good performance, I'm not sure how good the race was but he couldn’t have done it more impressively. He’s so eager to get on with it you always have to take a pull and make sure he’s not trying to be over ambitious and then he pops away lovely.”

After yet another successful day, Josh couldn’t help mention his narrow defeat in the fourth race aboard Ted The Thief. I think this just shows the mindset of a very driven and successful man who is currently a force to be reckoned with.

A final mention has to go to everyone who has helped at both Wadebridge meeting’s this season, they have put on two fabulous days racing and it has been a joy to watch two very competitive cards with plenty of great action.