Decent ground, decent levels of entries, a decent crowd - it all added up to a pleasant day out at Penshurst, although the proportion of entries that declared to run was a bit lower than expected. In the open maiden, horses were entered from as far afield as Somserset and Durham, and many points in between, but in the end only two out of area raiders ventured into this picturesque corner of north Kent. Another feature of the day was the constant lost property announcements. The following were all either reported lost or handed in: a credit card, 4 sets of keys, a Blackberry, an iPod, 2 pairs of sunglasses, a black labrador and 2 children. To gather such breathtaking incompetence in the field of item retention into one small area is noteworthy indeed, and the organisers could subsidise the racing by auctioning the left overs on Ebay.

On the racing front, the ground prevented one of the portable fences being put in place, which meant only 15 were jumped in each race, and there was a very long run from three out to the second last. As this included the heaviest patch, the state of play on the race at three from home seemed to have little relation to what eventually would be the result, as plenty of riders were still taking things steadily at that point.

Going: Good to Soft (Heavy in the dip)

Race 1: Villagate Group Members

1: Exodous     2: Frontenac     3: New Lodge Express

Winner owned & trained: Ann Blaker, ridden: Anna Sansom

A very tight finish, that took a long time for the judge to announce the winner to have prevailed by a short head. As some people had helpfully erected a gazebo right by the winning post, very few racegoers had a clear view, and the body language of the riders as they came back suggested that neither Anna Sansom nor Michelle Woods was certain who had won. After a ragged start which saw the field quickly strung out, they bunched up again before the second last, and eventually played out a bizarrely slow motion finish when it is considered that the pace was very easy throughout. Exodous gained due reward for some half decent tries in better company which ended in various misfortunes. The outsider of the sextet, Billie Bay, was staying on into second when he fell at the last, and the manner in which the others came home implies he had a very decent chance of winning had he stayed up.

Frontenac (orange) takes advantage of having eight legs to keep a slight edge on Alpine Slave (blue & light blue) and veteran Esprit De Cotte (maroon and yellow)

Race 2: Hiscox Confined Conditions

1: Glory Trail     2: Glenbower Woods     3: Super Kay

Winner owned: Random Optimists, trained: Di Grissell, ridden: Hannah Grissell

The early pace in this was very sedate, until the hard pulling Kingsun was allowed to stride on and inject some urgency, but by the third last it seemed as if the race was a duel between Super Kay and Glenbower Woods sitting on his tail. The latter took it up in the dip and was two clear at the second from home, but the rise to the line, which does not look much, often catches horses out, and it happened again here, as Glory Trail came charging home to nab the lead at the last. With the second and third being amongst the more promising younger horses in the area, it was a bit disappointing that they were brushed aside by a fourteen year old whose history is one of winning less often than his abilities ought to dictate. However, Penshurst seems to be one of those courses that some horses take to with a passion and others do not handle, and perhaps at a different venue, the youths would turn the veteran over.

Kingsun leads Glenbower Woods (checks) and Super Kay (noseband) and Jalpreuil Malta (grey) at the fourth.

Race 3: Planechartering.com SE Hunts Club Members for Novice and Veteran Riders

1: No Reward     2: El Viejo     3: Long Courrier

Winner owned: Mrs D Braxton, trained: Di Grissell, ridden: Matt Braxton

Another race in which the complexion changed dramatically late on, as long time leader El Viejo, in common with the theme of the day, found his legs turning to jelly after the winning post came in sight, despite holding a moderately commanding lead two out. In fairness, he tried hard to rally after No Reward put in a good jump at the last, but still went down by a length. Two winners for the Grissell team, adopting almost identical tactics (keep things cautious until exiting the dip) and on horses that certainly provide their owners with a decent number of runs for their money.

Race 4: Connolly's Red Mills Intermediate

1: Jack's Present     2: Dizzy Massini     3: Magnus Veritas

Winner owned: Simon Tindall, trained & ridden: Nick Pearce

The Groundhog Day factor in this was applied by Dizzy Massini who led at the third and remained there until Jack's Present popped up at the last. Unfortunately, the rider suffering the dismay was Tom Cannon, who had been on board El Viejo as well, although in this case Jack's Present exerted a rather more emphatic superiority in the end. Magnus Veritas was in contention three out but faded away, and Prey Bird whipped round at the start, dislodging his rider. In one of those statistical oddities that seem unavoidable, it was another case of the 2008 form at Parham holding up well.

Race 5: Polebrook Elizabeth Champion Memorial Ladies' Open

1: Full Irish     2: Elenas River     3: Major Jon

Winner owned & trained: Joe Turner, ridden: Louise Allan

Having spent plenty of races staring forlornly at the the big grey bum of Carryonharry passing the post in front of him, Full Irish had a much easier task on his hands this time, and regained the winning thread as a consequence. There were moments in the race when he did not appear to be travelling too sweetly, and when he kicked on after the dip, the events earlier in the afternoon pointed to one of the others taking flight to pinch the race. The trend was broken as Elenas River and Major Jon were just sort of plodding along with more effort than sparkle.

Major Jon on ground, in control, leads Soldershire, Elenas River (mid air), Full Irish and the toiling Political Cruise (grey)

Race 6: Knight Frank Men's Open

1: Bee An Bee     2: Honourable Spider     3: Sheriff's Friend

Winner owned & trained: David Robinson, ridden: Stuart Robinson

With only four runners, the race looked as if it would be decided between Bee An Bee and Honourable Spider unless Sheriff's Friend suddenly bounced back to his very best, for no obvious reason. After three out, the script was being followed, but in the dip Honourable Spider slowed to a virtual walk and left Bee An Bee in for a wide margin win. Thoutmosis lost the battle for third.

Bee An Bee on course for victory

Race 7: Leicester Arms Grants Cherry Brandy Open Maiden

1: Laguna Beach     2: Lismore Legend     3: Kanga Gold

Winner owned & ridden: Peter Bull, trained: Suzy Bull

From an initial entry of 28, a field of 9 was a bit of a let down, but it was hard enough picking a winner from those that did line up. The more obvious picks seemed all to have a negative - beaten by a country mile on debut, and the winner was vanquished next time (Kanga Gold), fell on second of three career runs (Laguna Beach) or solid form but a bit exposed (Lismore Legend). With less than half a lap to go, the field was surprisingly well bunched, but the three in the frame soon kicked clear of the rest, all of whom threw in the towel before jumping the last, and after a little bit of shuffling around, the winning order sorted itself out without too much fuss required.

Plus Points

Billie Bay (race 1): Has won a maiden, but otherwise habitually pulls up. Ending in a fall is a negative, but he showed some ability up to that point.

Glenbower Woods (race 2): Has ended up with a couple of disappointments. but could rise up the grades a bit come next season

Long Courrier (race 3): Was beaten four lengths in the end, putting a previous race fall behind him. Not a bad run against two opponents, who whilst having limitations, had been at the top of their game lately.

Full Irish (race 5): Has his off days, but is still good enough when avoiding the elite open horses

Down Arrows

Cedar Chief (race 3): Making a belated seasonal debut for new connection, and ran a lacklustre race in the rear, not jumping especially well either.

Rockville (race 4): An East Anglian visitor who has already won at Godstone this year (with the second rather letting down the form), he sulked the back, with his jumping varying from awkward to slow and risky.

Political Cruise (race 5): Seemed a likely candidate to take to pointing but has been a consistent flop - so far

Honourable Spider (race 6): Has won on testing ground, but his form on decent going is much stronger and when he hit the worst patch of the track, it sapped all the strength out of him. As he gets older, bad going seems to fluster him all the more.