Cottenham Point-to-Point is no more.
An institution for country folk in East Anglia comes to an end, after decades of family work.
Did you know that 'back in the day' my grandad Hugh once won 2 races on the same day ON THE SAME HORSE?? I remember reading about it on a photo frame in the downstairs loo at Eye Hall, the horse was called Coxs Orange.
Cottenham was a family thing. It was the 'beating heart' of what the Gingell family stood for. Betty Gingel (grandma) would take the hounds, blow her horn and gallop them in full voice infront of the grandstand before the races started. Granny and Granddad worked together tirelessly, happily and successfully for 60 years to build a family reputation that still to this day extends across the entire UK and beyond.
My father once told me that his purpose in life was to continue what his parents had created. Sadly and for many different reasons, this is something he simply could not fulfil.
I chose not to gallop flat out around the course a couple of times on a wild thoroughbred, whilst surrounded by other wild jockeys on equally wild tbs trying to do the same, but faster. Instead I focussed on dressage and eventing. I was never really cut out for hunting or shooting, I simply didn't feel excited that sort of thing. But I still had my part to play in the Cottenham P-Ps. I was in charge of tradestands for a while and instigated one company supplying a variety of foods and beverages, instead of there sometimes being 5 burger vans turn up on the day and nothing else!
The Cottenham racecourse was the venue for lots of PC competitions, ODE's, hunter trials, dressage competions and event triathalons. It's a place that holds firmly in the memory banks for countless middle aged horsey folk like myself and will always be there, as very fond memories.
My mother was P-P secretary for decades and my brother Matt was the keenest of all for hunting and racing. He had a huge bond with Granny and Grandad, loved the hunting with the hounds, the shooting and the racing at Cottenham and beyond. He will always be remembered for flying around the Mens Open on a crazy chestnut gelding 'Speculation' in record time beating the rest of the field by a fence!
Now though, times have changed. We embrace a new youth and a new future for the Gingell family. The Hack Up Bespoke concept is very soon to reach it's 10th Birthday and we as a family are extremely excited about the future.
Katya (or KitKat) is well and truly on her way to dressage stardom at 12yo as she nailed an overall win at medium level on Frankie. She has Jubilee as her second ride and 9yo 16.2' Hyperion waiting in the wings for her, working well at medium level and being brought on by mum Jayne, who incidentally is getting high 60's for advanced medium on Junior. With a brilliant support team around her, there's every reason she'll go a very long way. We're already incredibly proud of her.
Personally, my dressage RingCraft clinics are proving popular (both pure dressage and eventing folk) and dates are now being set for me to do many more clinics further afield across the UK and possibly beyond.
All in all ...... The Gingells are Kicking On!! x
