by George Winbury
YOU can always tell when spring is in the air.
It’s not just because the daffodils are out, the central heating has been reset and the nights are getting longer.
That’s also when they put the start times back for evening racing at Wolverhampton.
As usual, there is a full seven-race card at Dunstall Park tonight, but it does not get underway until 5.30 – an hour later than last week’s more customary 4.30 start.
Wolverhampton also stages a full meeting in daylight later in the week, on Thursday.
But, although the 2025 Flat season officially gets going on Saturday when Doncaster hosts the Lincoln, it is still essentially the jumps season – and there are four local jumps meetings in the Midlands this week.
Hereford, Warwick, Uttoxeter and Stratford will all be hoping for a good turn-out as the local jumps yards excitedly brace themselves for the three-day meeting at Aintree – culminating in the 177th running of the world’s most famous horse race, the Grand National.
One Midlands yard looking forward to Aintree more than most will be Fred Timmis’s yard near Malpas on the Shropshire/Cheshire border.
Their pride and joy Captain Tommy is entered into the Foxhunters Chase on the Thursday – once round the famous National course for a two miles and five furlongs test for the country’s top amateurs, which has produced its fair share of winners.
Warwickshire’s Gina Andrews won on it Latenightpass for husband Tom Ellis in 2022, and Shropshire’s Richard Burton did for Nicky Henderson in 2007.
That made Henderson one of the select few to have won it as both trainer and jockey.
He won as a young jockey on Happy Warrior in 1977, while a certain Willie Mullins (with Atha Claith in 1983) also won it, as has Willie Twiston-Davies, the less celebrated of the two Twiston-Davies brothers.
And Sam Waley-Cohen, who went on to win both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National, has won it three times.
Further back, Grittar, ridden by Dick Saunders, had the perfect run round when they won it in 1981. It clearly went so well they came back to win the National itself around Aintree a year later.
As to whether Captain Tommy can do it, he has certainly set himself up for another crack with Thursday’s latest winning run at Ludlow.
A year ago, Captain Tommy went in the Foxhunters just three weeks after winning the Ludlow Gold Cup, a trophy he then defended, this time with Huw Edwards on board. No, not that one!
“We’ve only gone and done it again,” said Timmis. “And best turned out for the second year running too.
“We won easily under the brilliant Huw Edwards. But thank you Tommy for another amazing day.”
The horse’s next stop is again Aintree. And this year, there will be a gap of only two weeks between the two races.
But, while Captain Tommy is a bit of a Ludlow specialist, having won on his last three starts at the Shropshire track, the 11-year-old gelding has also won at plenty of other tracks too – Fontwell Park, Wincanton, Uttoxeter, Bangor, Worcester and Catterick.
Another Midlander looking for a nice day out is Shropshire owner/breeder Ray Bailey, who has an interesting entry in the Lincoln this Saturday.
Bailey, best known in local sporting circle as the former Shrewsbury Town chairman until 1996 has concentrated in more recent years on his love of horseracing.
And he has bred his own exciting contender in Myal, now trained by Steph Hollinshead over in Staffordshire.
The four-year-old gelding made eight starts since having his first run in May 2024 – and he was unplaced in his first four appearances.
But in the space of just two months between August 10 and October 26, he won four times over seven furlongs.
And, after a good winter’s rest, although the Lincoln is a furlong longer, the comparative ease of all those four wins suggests he might have a bit more in the tank.
But that’s Saturday. Today’s only Monday.
And I trust we’ll all have enjoyed a few winners by then, starting with Billy Loughnane’s opening two mounts in the first two races at Wolverhampton tonight, Bint Elnadim Star and Green Team, for Alvechurch’s Ian Williams.
Good luck out there. Especially to you Billy.
This week’s Midlands meetings
Monday 24 March
Wolverhampton
First race: 5.30
Last race: 8:30
Wednesday 26 March
Hereford
First race: 2.30
Last race: 5.17
Thursday 27 March
Warwick
First race: 2.27
Last race: 5.03
Thursday 27 March
Wolverhampton
First race: 2.20
Last race: 5.35
Saturday 29 March
Stratford
First race: 1.55
Last race: 4.50
Saturday 29 March
Uttoxeter
First race: 2.10
Last race: 5.40
