Novice Timber (l-r): Zanclus (Kieran Norris) first, Le Chevalier (Mark Beecher) second / Douglas Lees photo
Trainer Neil Morris made the best of his home turf advantage by saddling three winners on the five-race card at the Orange County Point-to-Point on Sunday, April 3, 2016.
In Novice Timber, the only race over fences, Morris-trained Zanclus won his second timber race in just two Virginia starts this season, both under Kieran Norris. His earlier win was at Blue Ridge. Le Chevalier, ridden by Mark Beecher, winner of the Novice Timber at Warrenton two weeks earlier, mounted a strong challenge in the stretch, but Zanclus prevailed at the wire by a neck.
Kieran Norris celebrates his second win for trainer Neil Morris, this in the Maiden Flat I Race. / Douglas Lees photo
Norris also rode Imaginate for Morris’s second win in the Maiden Flat I Race, and Jacob Roberts piloted Be Back to the wire for Morris’s third win in the Maiden Flat II. Both maiden winners are owned by Lana Wright.
Maiden Flat II: Be Back (Jacob Roberts) edges out As You Like It (Keri Brion) by a head at the finish. / Douglas Lees photo
Young Teresa Croce, who went off course a week earlier at Piedmont after consecutive wins at Blue Ridge and at Warrenton, resumed her winning ways in the day’s first race, Novice Rider Flat. Teresa rode King Ting to the front in the early going and crossed the wire ahead of the rest of the four-horse field by twelve lengths. King Ting is owned by Kinross Farm and trained by Christopher Read.
Posted April 10, 2016
King Ting and Teresa Croce win the Novice Rider Flat Race. / Douglas Lees photo