Missmimi Doubles Up At Pontefract
Pontefract hosted their round of the Go Racing In Yorkshire Future Stars Apprentice race, supported by White Rose Saddlery, on Thursday 16th September, later in the season than previous years. The welcome rain that had fallen over the previous few days, produced ground that was good to soft, and seven horses went to post for the opening race on the card.
The contest was a six-furlong sprint and after a level break, Minnesota Lad took advantage of his stall 1 draw and went to the front under Jordan Nason, with Mattice, ridden by Shay Farmer, travelling upsides and quickly gaining a clear lead.
Approaching the bend at the halfway point, Bill Plumb and Connor Planas edged into second from Minnesota Lad, who was more settled after looking keen early on. Roundhay Park was close up in fourth, followed by Missmimi, Profiteer and Cargin Bhui.
With less than two furlongs to go and now into the home straight, the jockeys were down in the drive position and Missmimi travelled smoothly under Aiden Brookes to take the lead at the half furlong pole. The pair ran on strongly to win by a length from Roundhay Park and Alex Jary, with Mattice a shore head back in third.
Missmimi, trained by Tina Jackson, for her partner Howard Thompson, clearly likes Pontefract, given that this was her second win at the course in 2025 and another victory before the season is out, could see her land a £3,000 bonus from the Chairman’s Challenge.
This was Aiden’s first opportunity to score points in the series and the winning 18 points took him straight into joint 4th place on the leader board. Mason Paetel still holds the lead with 48 points, 16 points clear of Archie Young and Tom Kiely-Marshall is in third with 20 points.
The next race in the series takes place at York on Friday 10th October.