The Open Class consists mainly glorious hedges many with open ditches on the take off and is a total joy to jump, 9 teams were entered and first to go the Bitch Pack had only three riders and when Sophie Rooker's horse took exception to the open ditch at fence 5 and then fell they were forced to retire. The Marston Misfites were next to go. Ali Lucking led the way on Basil, until he pecked on landing at fence 11 wrenching off a front shoe, thus leaving Jan Harrison, in her very first open event, out in the lead and with Linda Evans and Richard Goring in close contention they finished in a respectable time of 265.03 seconds. The Tangos were third off, this team of Paul Browes, Caroline Smith, Tony Thorpe and the young Oliver Signey have been knocking on the door this season and had a great round knocking 13 seconds off the Misfits time which eventually put them in fourth place.

The Teme Valley Tigers, Sara Myhill, Lorna Brooke, Nicky Wenban, and Angie Murphy had a good round but were not quite as fast as they usually are, finally finishing in 7th place. Next to go the Wasps-Tom Kaye, Martin Patemen, Mike Andrews and Stuart Humphries were going well until they lost Mike Andrews at the 8th fence leaving them unable to catch the Tangos time putting them 5th.

Everyone was now waiting with baited breath to see if the current Champions, the newly sponsored Prestige Horseboxes Forge Flyers could hold on to their unbeaten record. Debbie Topping on the ever youthful Junior, once again set off at a great pace with Yvonne Goss, on her fourth ride of the day and Sarah Bailey right up with her, Graham Smith found it hard to keep up with the girls and once again they gave a magnificent and faultless display of team chasing at its best, finishing in a superb time of 237.99 seconds.

The Boring Gorings, led by Fred French on 3 Seasons with George Goring, John Perry and Richard Goring on his second ride of the day gave it their all and even with a very fast round with tight turns and superb team work they still finished 12 seconds adrift of the Forge, but in a well deserved second place.

The Rappell Hare Raisers were the penultimate team to go and with the breaking news that Allen Brown and Aly Roberts had snook off to the Lake District a month ago and tied the knot it would have been a wonderful wedding present if they could have recaptured some of their old form and beaten the Forge, however once again with a near faultless round by both Allen and Aly, Shaun Cookson and Paul Thomason they were not quite quick enough finishing just one second behind the Boring Gorings to finish in third place.

Last to go were The Farmers Bloodhounds, Alan George gave Natasha Von Vedel, Anna Hall and Penny Dowdeswell a superb lead and they were going really well until losing Anna Hall at the very last fence. They managed to finish in 6th place.

The Intermediate class which is a challenging intermediate taking in some of the open and some of the novice fences attracted an entry of 25 teams. It was good to see The Knightly Hatters back on the circuit after Andrew Shipley's crashing fall at the Championhsips in the Spring, he led brother Ian, Lucy Hyde-Thompson and Stuart Morris round in superb style to clinch the first place in a very fast time of 178.36s. The Gophers - John Buxton, Graham Smith, Louise Walker and Debbie Topping were last to go and although they gave the Hatters a good run for their money they finished just 2 seconds slower.

A very deserved third place went to The Welsh Wizzards comprising entirely of the Jones family from near Welshpool, led by Mum Nicola with daughter Harriot, husband Kenlon and other daughter Charlotte Gladys bringing up the rear they put in a very accomplished round which belied the fact that they have not competed in many events.

It was good to see The Odds and Sods back in the frame, Geoff Lockwood always has good horses and with the tireless Yvonne Goss, Brian Birch and Ali Lindner riding for him they clocked a good time of 187.03 to put them in fourth place. Hard luck story of the day must surely be the Marston Misfits Again who were storming round and well up on the clock when Alistair Beedles lead horse Bobby hit the last but two sleeper fence really hard which must have knocked the stuffing out of him and he then uncharacteristically stopped at the last fence taking the other three, Katherine Tudor, Sarah Gibson and Richard Beaman out with him, they managed to re-group and still finished in fifth place.

The spectators were treated to a fine display of side saddle team chasing by the three girls of the Leg Over Ladies, Louise Waler, Francis Elson and Emma Brown were a joy to watch and they finished the course in great style and in a time of 212.64seconds.

The Novice class in the morning was full with 40 entries, the team to finish nearest the bogey time were the very first team to go The Flunky Fillies team of Stephanie Elliott, Sarah Hayward and Sarah Docker, second place went to the Tarts on Top and third to the Stag Hounds.

Once again the spectators had a wonderful day in the Autumn sunshine and our grateful thanks must go out to the committee of the Atherstone Hunt for all their hard work.

Netty Nevill