MAGICIEN, ridden by Adrian Brown, followed up his recent win at the Radnor & West Hereford meeting with another game performance to score in the Men's Open at Wheatland Hunt point to point at Chaddesley Corbett.

Taken on by Jemaro, who had finished behind him at the Radnor meeting, Magicien trailed as they led into the straight. But, in a ding-dong finish over the final two fences, it was Magicien who took the honours.

Trained at Shobdon by Steve Isaac, a neighbour of co-trainer Steve Flook who has been scoring in hunterchases regularly, Magicen had looked beaten half way up the run-in but responded well to jockey Brown's urgings as they held on to win by a head.

Trainer-rider Sarah Jayne Davies, who trains near Leominster, also celebrated as she took the Young Horse Maiden aboard Shannonvale who had looked beaten at the third last fence. But they rallied to score by half a length from Macatoo, with third-placed She's A Terror a head away in third.

Jockey Rob Hodges took the Restricted Open aboard owner Gwyn Edwards' Slaves Adventure at odds of 25/1, while Adrian Wintle kept up pressure on Julian Pritchard for the West Midlands Area riders' title by taking the final PPORA race aboard the Caroline Robinson owned Euro Craft

RESULTS

Members: 1 Belligerant (A Wadlow) walkover.

Maiden 5, 6, 7 yo: 1. Shannonvale (S Davies) 7/2, 2. Macatoo 16/1, 3. She's A Terror 9/4. 8 ran.

Open: 1 Magicien (A Brown) 5/4 Fav, 2 Jemaro 9/4, 3 Ricky B 5/2. 6 ran.

Ladies: 1 Father Tom (C Allen) 1/3 Fav, 2 Porlock Hill 8/1, 3. Snowtre 20/1. 9 ran.

Restricted: 1 Slaves Adventure (R Hodges) 25/1, 2 Sissinghurst Star 6/1, 3 Cousin George 20/1. 11 ran.

PPORA Conditions: 1 Euro Craft (A Wintle) 7/4, 2 Suaverof Evens, 3. Galen 14/1. 6 ran.

l THE Golden Valley point to point at Bredwardine on Saturday will be a fitting finale to the Welsh Border season.

A minimum of nine races are carded, including the Brightwells Welsh Border Area Confined Championship, which has attracted some of the best horses in the region. The tapes will go up for the first race at 1 p.m, and the beautiful riverside course can be found at The Weston, Bredwardine on the B4352 between Hereford and Hay-on-Wye.