WALES & border harness racing was on the all-weather track at Tair Gwaith near Ammanford on Saturday, with a fun atmosphere alongside the growing competitiveness as the season progresses, writes Maureen Lloyd.

The afternoon began with the Grade B heats. In the first, the impressive Wye Doon driven by his young trainer Maddy Davies for grandmother Amanda Hawkes from Orleton led the way home from Juicy Wiggle (Arrowsmith, Gorslas) with Sealofapproval (Munro, Bridgend) in third.

Stateside Icon with Lee Price at the controls provided another win for the Weigel family from Llanddewi Velfrey in the second heat, coming home ahead of Lucifer (Lloyd, Painscastle) with Best in Flight (Gale, Gorslas) in third place.

Novice Dai’s Silver Talk
Novice Dai’s Silver Talk (Jacqui Bevan)

In the Novice race, Andrew Bevan from Builth Wells on the family owned Dai’s Silver Talk took first prize in front of ever reliable Begwyns Trust (Lloyd, Painscastle) with Full Closure the new horse belonging to Jane Bevan of Llanddewi in third.

The two Baby Novice races were next on the card with the first going to Beach Boy driven by Ben Flanagan for owner Will Collard from Rhayader. In second was Rhyds Louie (Millard, Stourbridge) while Ayr Zac (Boxhall, Brecon) was third.

In the second race, Glenfield Thomas driven by Mathew Tromans for Gary Billington from Leicester took the spoils with Mahogany Frankie (Munro, Bridgend) in second and new-comer Sonny Camden (Millard, Stourbridge) in third.

In the Grade A, World Famous is really making a name for himself with the help of his young driver Finn Bevan from Builth Wells driving for his grandfather Mike claiming another victory from Mike’s brother Andrew Bevan on Hillbilly Jackson while Blue Guns N Roses (Thomas, Pontypridd) was third.

The human race was won by Sam Reynolds
The human race was won by Sam Reynolds (Jacqui Bevan)

After the break, there was a human race, where the horses had a rest and a human was in the shafts of the sulky while the driver and public urged them on. It provided plenty of laughs as well as a close finish. Sam Reynolds from Orleton was the winning ‘horse’ driven by Evie Davies.

The next race was the Nursery which was won by Vinny Price on Rhyds Louie (Millard, Stourbridge) with Buster Bradie (Eggerton, Norton Canon) in second and Yewtree Habanero (Flanagan, Wimbourne) in third.

This week there was a non whip race added to the programme, this was won by Hannibal (Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey) driven by Mathew Tromans ahead of Manhattan Gangster (Munro, Bridgend) with Sonny Camden (Millard, Stourbridge) third.

The final race of the day was the Grade B Final where Wye Doon and Maddy Davies repeated their heat win for owner Amanda Hawkes while Stateside Icon (Weigel, Llanddewi Velfrey) was second and Best in Flight (Gale, Gorslas) was third.

The racing returns to Ammanford on Saturday starting at 1.30pm.

Grade B heat 1: 1 Wye Doon (Maddy Davies). Time: 2:03.9

Grade B heat 2: 1 Stateside Icon (Lee Price). Time: 2:02.5

Novice: 1 Dai’s Silver Talk (Andrew Bevan). Time: 2:04.3

Baby Novice race 1: Beach Boy (Ben Flanagan). Time: 2:08.6

Baby Novice race 2: 1 Glenfield Thomas (Mathew Tromans). Time: 2:06.9

Grade A: 1 World Famous (Finn Bevan). Time: 2:02.2

Nursery: 1 Rhyds Louie (Vinny Price). Time: 2:11.3

Non whip race: 1 Hannibal (Mathew Tromans). Time: 2:06.5

Grade B Final: 1 Wye Doon (Maddy Davies). Time: 2:04.2