The penultimate AGA Ladies open of the season had attracted a mouth watering entry of 22, and the Pointing Plus (Racing Plus) had given it front page billing with the headline ‘Clash of the Titans’. That ‘clash’ didn’t materialise as only 3 went to post, but we still had an intriguing and exciting race, and I loved every minute of it!

The class acts had scared everyone else off and I must admit to being a little miserable as it became clear that we would only have a 3 runner race. I needn’t have worried however, as Claire Hart (Palypso De Creek), Jane Williams (Cottage Oak) and Katie Ayres (Tirob) ensured we had a cracking race.

The paddock affords an excellent all-round view of the course at Chaddesley, but I needed some photos so I watched the race by the last fence. That meant I had to get up the hill pretty sharpish after they crossed the line and I can assure you that I was blowing a bit by the time I reached the paddock!

As I sprinted (yes, really) back up the hill I met Joe as he was on the way down to meet Oaksi and Jane, as you can see from the photo below he was quite animated. I was also quite animated, telling anyone who would listen that I had just seen one of the rides of the season (tactical brilliance from Jane).

The presentation was made by Adam Giles, who owns the Punchbowl Inn, Bridgnorth, a fantastic pub which boasts a live AGA carvery (which is superb). Adam – who is an AGA Approved Ambassador – also donated two £25 vouchers on the day for a competition which was run in conjunction with Pointing Plus (Racing Plus).

As ever we had plenty of fun with the presentation but I must remember to take the tags of the AGA hats before the photos are taken!

There was to be another win for Joe and Richard Hewitt as Best Served Cold took the following race, netting Joe a few quid in the process.

This fixture took place on 11th May (almost a month ago), so as you can probably tell I am a little bit behind with my blogging. I’m doing my best to catch up and still have a few more to write, including an account of our trip to Ireland, plus a review of the AGA Ladies Open final! Hope you enjoy this one Joe, even though it’s a little late!