Ceredigion, UK – With the start of the Tregaron festival 2015 just hour's away, harness racing horsemen and women will be making the journey over the mountains or across the Irish Sea to the picturesque town of Tregaron.
Many of us were eagerly watching our computer screens earlier in the week to see what decision the committee would make regarding the fixture and following a meeting on Monday evening they chose to cut down to two days and stay in Tregaron. Now as I write this the sun is shining and we are all hoping Tregaron will be as fantastic as ever!
The two major finals of the weekend will consist of five heats which will be run as open preferred handicaps with the top two from each heat moving into the final. On Friday Mikey Camden (one of 15 entries for top trainer Alexis Laidler) draws well in heat three of the Strata Florida and has won on the track before and could provide the team with yet another Strata Florida winner.
Also on day one is the big guns free for all featuring recent Crock of Gold winner Stoneriggs Mystery. Can Brywins Magicpotion overhaul the champ or will it be another victory for Mick Lord's stable star?
As expected there are a number of top names in the heats for the Welsh Classic. Top Irish contender Poterstown Chris makes the journey for the Dunne family but can he overcome his wide draw and get the better of his other Irish compatriots Heart of Steel and Dean's Alibi, or will it be local I'm Immpartial Too, who hasn't been seen yet this year, who grabs the spoils.
Imjustalittleguy has already won in excess of £7,000 this year so far and has the plum draw in heat 5. Can he add some more money to his pot and give Richard Haythornthwaite another major final winner.
This year sees three trotting races at Tregaron, including two divisions of the 'Le Trot' series and the Tregaron Trot. All three of these will be run on Saturday so that's the day to be there for the square going enthusiasts.
One of the highlights at Tregaron is the Dragon Series. Friday see's the 2 year olds do battle with separate divisions for the colts and fillies. Jessie's Conquest has bags of speed and will be the bookies favourite but Tregaron will be cheering home Rhyds Nightlife for Club treasurer Dewi Lloyd-Davies. Brenda Dean has not graced the racetrack at Tregaron for a number of years and her entry Kick On in the colts division could spark a bit of interest as its unlikely that she made the long trip simply to make up the numbers.
Again there are two divisions of the three year olds on the Saturday. The Irish campaigner Carmel Camden travels to Tregaron on the back of another win at Portmarnock and a good draw here could see her leading from pillar to post. Her main dangers come from the northern raiders particularly Shaba Hanover for the mighty Mick Lord. It's difficult to look past Coalford Tetrick in the colts division especially after his performance at York a fortnight ago.
So the clocks counting down and the excitements building, with so many top class races Tregaron is definitely the place to be this weekend!
by Kayleigh Evans, for the Ceredigion