Sutton Cup–last race in handicap series

Another cracker day in the Manawatu and some regular and new and old faces appeared on the scene at Ashhurst to see how good the handicapping would be today. With Jaycob Humphreys taking on the role of race manager and overseeing all things, he had a great little team of helpers on the day. Thanks to Louise Ransom and Rebecca Allan for marshalling out on the course and Wayne Fenn for helping on the finish line.

It was nice to be able to relax at the end of the ride at Fusion cafe and enjoy a drink and something to eat while the results for the series were calculated. Prizemoney was then handed out to those that were present and there was only one person not present so that money went back in to the pot to be added to the next series prizemoney.

It was good to see a strong and even turn out for most grades. D grade consisted of Neil Pollock, Samara Fenn, Thomas Stannard, Peita Ransom and Angela Rainham.

Helen Davis who had won the Cheltenham cup the week before riding off the front of D grade was put up in to C grade, along with Frazer Allan, the thorn amongst the roses including  Katherine Stannard, Megan Blatchford, Gabrielle Bahler and Michaela Walker. C grade had a wait of 10 minutes after the D grade had departed but nearly had an early start if Jaycob had had his way. 

B grade was the smallest field with only 4 riders leaving Ashhurst on 19 minutes followed by the first of the A-Grade which was split into two groups with a small 2 min gap between. The first group had Hamich Mikkelsen, Ben Somerton, Jacob Sievwright, Cameron Huston, Mitchell Kinghorn, Fergus Allan and Ross Rainham and the scratch group had Alex West, Jordan Castle, Jake van Lienen, Nate Levin, Hayden Washington-Smith and Mark Waterland.

Both groups worked well together, with the scratch group almost closing the 2 min gap at the turn. Nate Levin, Jordan Castle, Jake van Lienen and Alex West all looked strong on the climbs. Alex West had to withdraw at the top of the Totara Hill Climb due to a puncture much to his disappointment. Nate Levin made a decisive move on the first climb on the home-ward leg, bidding his time at second wheel before spotting a moment of weakness and unleashing a sharp attack that split the group, that proved too much for Mark Waterland. This group caught the other A-Grade group just before the descent down the Totara Reserve Hill. At this point they were able to drop Mark Waterland , this being his first club race after a long break.  More mechanical difficulties struck the scratch riders, with Nate Levin having gear troubles, forcing him to withdraw also.

First over the line was Megan Blatchford, followed by Frazer Allan and Thomas Stannard.

Full results below