As the flat season continues to wind down, Pontefract stage their second September meeting on Thursday 24th.
The highlight of the card is the Simon Scrope Dalby Screw-Driver Handicap – a Class 2 Handicap over 1m2f worth £20,000 to the winner. ‘Screw-Driver’ was the racing pin up in the early 19th century, winning at least 2 ‘Cup’ races. These ‘Cups’ consisted of four heats over 2 miles on the same day with the winner being the horse with the best aggregate score over the 8 miles! This impressive feat makes Screw-Driver just about the first Pontefract course specialist on record! It’s fitting, therefore, that Ennistown has won the last 2 runnings of this race for the mighty Godolphin operation and has a 100% record at the West Yorkshire course. Now a highly promising novice hurdler with John Ferguson, it remains to be seen whether the Godolphin operation have found a suitable replacement to score the hat-trick.
All races from Pontefract are shown live on Racing UK, and the channel lends their name to 3 races on the card. The chief supporting race, the Download The Racing UK iPad App, sees the 6f sprinters burning up the track. Paul Midgley, who has had his string in such fantastic form, won the corresponding event in 2014 with Sunraider who scorched the Ponte turf when winning by 5 impressive lengths. There will undoubtedly be at least one representative from the Westow trainer who bids for to improve his impressive course record.
In conjunction with Racing UK, Pontefract are offering all subscribers to the channel the chance to come racing in September for just £10. Anyone wishing to take advantage of the discount (which also applies to a guest of the subscriber) will need to bring their 2015 metal badge to the turnstile on the day.
The Racecourse has been running the Yorkshire Postcode Lottery throughout the season once again. The scheme gives racegoers from Yorkshire the chance to come racing in the Grandstand & Paddock Enclosure for just £2. The remaining 3 meetings of the season are all part of the promotion, and punters with postcodes from Halifax, Huddersfield and Bradford will all be eligible for cheap entry at forthcoming meetings with Halifax postcodes the lucky ones on the 24th September. The action gets underway at 2.20pm with gates opening at midday.