Nineteen of the twenty three teams who had qualified to compete in the championships actually lined up at the start, the current champions The Forge Flyers, who do not have fit horses due to various injuries were unable to run, thus we were definitely going to see a new team crowned.

The draw for the running order took place at the Heythrop event last week and drawn first to go were the Generation Gap, the team of Alistair Beedles, Katharine Tudor, Sarah Gibson and Susannah Gill set off at a very respectable speed and cut the corners on the influential serpentine of hedges early on in the course. However a few steering problems for Katharine in the pen when she overshot the Christmas trees lost them precious seconds, the Goring gaping gorge a double of logs with a hollow between them needs accurate jumping to save valuable time and unfortunately Sarah Gibson’s horse Manny ran off the second log and when Susannah Gill fell on the turn up the top of the hill, Sarah’s time had to count. They finished in a time of 5mins15.33s and must have been reasonably pleased with themselves.

Drawn second to go were the Teme Valley Tigers, they have been having a good season so far this spring and were tipped as one of the favourites to take the championship, Sarah Myhill giving them a usual good lead on Maggie, although she appeared to go a little bit wide between fences three and four, Angie Murphy, riding in third place behind Nicly Wenban, took a crashing fall with Lad at fence four, and then Helen Goodwin came down at fence five, their championship hopes were dashed, Helen managed to remount and continue but they were bitterly disappointed to finish in a time of 5mins 58.60s.

Photograph Courtesy of PC Images

The Boring Gorings were next to come under orders, Fred French leading on Stig who has been out for a while with injury problems, Linda Adams on Denzil. Mick Fuller, Coco and David Robinson on Dennis. Fred set off with his usual panache angling the hedges beautifully and all was going well until David Robinson ran off the V fence before the pen and pulled up, the other three managed the pen superbly , Fred went a little wide at the Goring gaping gorge and Stig looked to be labouring up to the three corner fences at the top of the hill, Linda took over the lead and got the angles spot on, Denzil bringing the team home in brilliant style in a time of 4mins 43.05s which was now the time to be aimed at.

The Odds and Sods were drawn fourth to go Emily Lockwood leading father Geoff with Heather Moodie and Caroline Smith, Emily lead them away at a steadier pace than the Gorings, however, Geoff’s horse was not jumping well and he put in a stop at fence 5 depositing Geoff on the floor then disappearing into the wilds of the Leicestershire countryside, the team had obviously decided to take the longer route at the V fence before the pen, which they negotiated in great style, Caroline Smith had an unfortunate run off at the corner fence at the top of the hill and as her time had to count this wasted several seconds, their finishing time of 4mins 53.46secs finally giving them 7th place.

Buck the Fan were drawn next to go, Mark Smith, Adam Hayes, Lydia Hollowell and Cynthia Hayden had a few steering problems at the V fence and almost missed the pen, Mark had a problem when his horse ran off the log, and then Cynthia Hayden took a crashing fall three from home, the team could not get a finishing time.

Ship or Bust lived up to their name, Simon Pearce leading off the team of Tony Pellett, Liz Hubbard and Phil Hall, they had set a cracking pace and were well up on the clock when they completely messed up the pen thus conceding a 20 second penalty, which was a great pity as they had otherwise ridden superbly making all the influential turns including one of the neatest turns through the difficult new fences at the top of the hill, their time of 4mins 32.52s would have won them the championship but with the additional 20 seconds had to settle for eventual 6th place.

The Fox Grant Thrusters were next to go and they two set off at a terrific pace, led by Simon Coady to the pen where he had a little steering problem ending up in the Christmas trees, the lead was taken over by Katie Cutherbertson with Jan Kwiatowski and William Grant in close contention they made the Goring gaping gorge look really easy, and even with two stops at the muddle at the top of the hill they had still done enough to beat the Boring Gorings time and finished in 4mins 42.50s just over one second ahead of the Gorings.

Photograph Courtesy of PC Images

The Pink Panthers who had qualified the week before at the Heythrop started out at a much more sedate pace and had a couple of stops at the water and were never in contention to topple the leaders but a respectable round saw them finish in a time of 5mins 25.92s.

The Cunning Stunts led by Tony Woodward, with Nicole Dawson in second, Emma Burton and Bryan Allen third and fourth were enjoying a good round, they were very neat in the pen and going well until they lost one in the water, and then Brian Allen ran off the log in the Goring Gorge they finished in a time of 5min 01.74seconds securing a tenth place spot.

Next to go were the Wasps, Tom and Joan Kaye were joined by Mark Andrews and Brian Butterworth, they gave a very polished display of team chasing, making all the difficult parts of the course look easy, they flew through the pen, were very tight at the Goring gorge and were one of the neatest teams through the loop at the top of the hill, their time of 4mins 47.99s gave them a very well deserved fourth place.

The Golden Valley Border Raiders team of Chris Lees, Tom Haynes, Ray Ebbro, and Paul Turner also gave a very polished display, keeping tight through the pen, gorge and muddle and ended with a most respectable time for one of the newer open teams of 4mins 55.58 seconds put them in line for an eighth place rosette.

Hair Raisers Too, set off next with a very hurried change of horses for Bryan Allen who had just finished his round with the Cunning Stunts, Ashley Bealby, Hannah Johnson, Chris Marriot and Bryan appeared to be going well until Chris Marriot had a real ducking in the water which must have been freezing, Mr Smudge continued, riderless jumping the logs in the gorge in fine style but then he ran off the turn at the top and almost caused chaos toward the end of the course, running across the fence as the team were set to take off. The team finally ran out of luck with another faller three fences from home.

The Speed Frame Windows B & Bs were a hurriedly put together team after injuries to Charlie Warde-Aldam’s horse whilst out hunting during the week, and had obtained the services of Lucille Brown who had put an advertisement in the Yorkshire Post advising that she was available to ride in a qualified team at the championships, they did manage to complete the course and register a time of 6mins 58.66s

Photograph Courtesy of PC Images

With six teams left to go the Fox Grant Thrusters were biting their finger nails as the Hair Raisers first team came under starters orders, Aly Brown had managed to get her old favourite the wonderful grey Dragon fit again after an injury at the Cotswold last autumn when he broke a bone in his hock almost ending his career. With husband Allen in hot pursuit on Bert, Paul Thomason Tiny and Penny Still Erin, Aly led them away with her usual panache. They jumped the “S” of hedges early on in the course at unbelievable angles, a slight hesitation in the pen might have cost them valuable seconds but they bowled on in spectacular fashion stopping the clock over seven seconds faster than the Fox Grant Thrusters.

Fight the Ban.Com were next to go, Ben Pauling riding the nippy Dingbat led off with Rupert Sturgis, Harry Dowty and Charlotte Alexander on the great ex-racehorse Earthmover who has taken to team chasing after his retirement from the track, they were really motoring when Ben Pauling ran off the corner fence in the muddle towards the end of the course, and when Rupert Sturgis parted company from his horse their chances were over. Their time of 4mins 48.31s was excellent considering the problems thus earning them 5th Place.

The Joules Knightly Hatters, were no doubt well fancied to take the title this year after knocking on the door for several seasons the Shipley brothers Ian and Andrew, riding Pepper and Parky respectively, Yvonne Goss on the super Perry and Lucy Bland on Paddy set off in their usual determined style, but sadly Andrew took a heavy fall at fence three and when the usual dependable Perry ran off the V fence before the pen almost depositing Yvonne on top of the fence their chances were also over, their time of 4mins 56.12s could only give them a ninth place rosette.

The Equus Health Herbal Junkies had taken the long trip up from Cornwall the team of Derek Doyne-Ditmus, Lizzie Luxton, Sue Joy Keeping and Stuart Radbourne, had Lizzie leading them off on Molly they were very neatly through the pen, but then Derek Doyne-Ditmus was unceremoniously ejected onto a fence their time of 5mins 10.09s was not good enough for a placing but they must have really enjoyed their round and hopefully the long journey was worth the ride over the lovely course at Tur Langton.

High hopes were now resting on the penultimate team to go, The Bitch Pack who have been extremely consistent for many a season, but had been struggling for fit riders and horses, Tamara Vestey set sail on Harry giving them a great lead, unfortunately they also lost a rider at fence four when Fiona Russel Brown fell from Dash, Jane Edmunds was in close contention on Monty, but by the time they reached the pen their third rider Sharon Robbins suffered a stop and after a further stop at the logs in the gorge the Bitch Pack sadly had to retire.

It was now left to the Fox Grant Chasers, they must have been on a terrific high knowing their other team the Fox Grant Thrusters were holding on to second place. But their challenge was over when Simon Vatcher fell, he remounted very quickly but with two further fallers at the big drop hedge it was all over, they did manage to record a time of 5mins12.70seconds and must have been pleased with both of their teams.

So The Hair Raisers were once again crowned champions after several years, second place went to The Fox Grant Thrusters, third The Boring Gorings, fourth The Wasps, fifth Fight the Ban.com and sixth Ship or Bust.

Photographs Courtesy of PC Images

Barefoot George Goring, who had once again sportingly taken part in the foot race, took great delight in presenting the “World Championship” rug to Dragon who tried to mow down all the spectators at the presentation, it was hard to believe he had just jumped 30 fences in fine style after such a long lay off. No doubt celebrations went on long into the night in the Hair Raisers lorry, they are normally the last to leave the lorry park before the long trip back to Cardiff.

Many congratulations to the whole team for such a wonderful display of team chasing and they are once again most worthy champions.

The UK Inter Hunt Team Chase incorporated the Fernie Intermediate class for the first time, which was good news for the intermediate teams not quite ready yet to take on the open classes as before they have only had the novice bogey class or the championship class at the Fernie.

The Intermediate section was won by the Wanna Bees team consisting of Sue Tideswell riding Jake, Mark Pennell taking the ride on Keith Tideswell’s horse Inch and husband and wife Wolfe and Lara Walker-Atlass, the globe trotting Tideswells who used to ride with the Marston Misfits before deciding to travel the world, occasionally working on cattle farms in New Zealand and Australia, had decided to return home and take up team chasing again, were over the moon with their horses. Wolfe and Lara have also recently returned to England, as Wolfe has been huntsman with the South Down in Northern Ireland for many seasons. Their time of 4mins12.11secs was just .87seconds ahead of the Whacky Racers team of Darren Watts, Vicky Skade, Jason Purlant and Chris Lees.

The winners of the UK Hunt Class were the North Staffs Knighton Lions, once again Sue Tideswell riding Danny, and Mark Pennell on his own horse Rory were victorious ably backed by Will Barry and Russell Dobny. Sue could not believe that three of the Tideswell horses had figured in the two winning teams. Second place went to the North Cotswold Odds and Sods.

The Novice Bogey Time class was won by the Go with the Flow team in a time of 4mins 24.06seconds, just .06secs outside the bogey time. The Langton Arms Chasers finished second.

Netty Nevill.