Field and Rural Life catches up with David Simpson, Sponsorship coordinator for AGA

ield and Rural Life catches up with David Simpson, Sponsorship coordinator for AGA , we hear about  his exciting journey of integrating into the Racing and Equine Community.


‘"This is our second season as the National Sponsor of the AGA Ladies Open Point-to-Point Championship and it's fair to say that they are streets ahead of where we were at the same point last season. In fact, we are streets ahead full stop as last season was very much a fact finding mission and it took a while to find our stride, it was always going to be a challenge but we started planning for this season back in May last year, so by the time the first race arrived we were raring to go. Last season taught us a lot and there was no way that we could give up after one year as the point-to-point community and AGA are natural partners and we are keen to promote the sport and establish close connections with our local shops.

My brief this year was to coordinate the sponsorship and make it work, I was asked to integrate myself into the community and to try and become a personality within it, in other words, get myself out there to meet people and network, and hopefully some opportunities would then arise for us to make the sponsorship commercially successful. I must say I am living and breathing it, I love it and my enthusiasm and determination is helping me to open doors - which is fantastic. Off the record I will say that I want the company to become involved in this sport for years to come, and also other equestrian events, if this current sponsorship works then I hope to be able to make a case for further involvement.

We set out this year to encourage some seriously competitive racing by introducing a Championship for lady riders, it is called the AGA Total Control Lady Riders' Championship and 51 races will count towards this, with the rider with the most points at the end of the season winning an AGA Total Control cooker worth almost £10,000.’’

Ladies Open Races

January 22nd, 2012 Sarah Jayne Davies makes it two wins in a row with success at Heythrop

Upton Springs - runner-up in the AGA Ladies' Open Point-to-point Championship final at Cheltenham last season - booked her place again with her second successive victory in this 3m 5f contest, making virtually all the running with Sarah Jayne Davies at the helm.

"She seems as good as ever this season," observed her breeder and joint-owner Peter Corbett,

"so there's no reason why she shouldn't take her chance again."

Virginia Preuil, who finished third last year, beaten by 12 lengths, got closer this time, but in truth the result was never in doubt from three out.

The comment that Peter would be able to keep the trophy that he won last year proved a little wide of the mark. "I haven't seen it yet," he said. "Sarah took it home with her and she kept it!" He is hoping that it might be his turn this time!

Last season Sarah had announced that she was hanging up her boots, but has since decided that she would carry on for as long as Upton Springs was racing.

Race winner Sarah Jayne Davies was filmed after the race being interviewed by respected point-to-point photographer John Beasley. The video can be viewed online at /aga-living/aga-point-to-point.aspx



FULL RESULTS

1  Upton Springs, owned by Peter Corbett and Sarah-Jayne Davies, trained and ridden by Sarah-Jayne Davies.  SP 4/6 fav.

2  Virginia Preuil, owned by Pat Tollit, trained by Jelly O'Brien, ridden by Phine Banks.

3  Whistling Straits, owned by Pat Beasley, trained by Caroline Robinson, ridden by Immy Robinson.

4  Armoury House, ridden by Chloe Boxall

5  Metal Detector, ridden by Sarah Rippon

6  Rajam, ridden by Lucy Wheeler

PU  Heavy Weather, ridden by Jane Williams

PU  High Rank, ridden by Claire Hart

8 ran.  Distances 2½ lengths & 20 lengths.  Time: 7min 41sec.



Upton Springs, owned by Peter Corbett and Sarah-Jayne Davies, trained and ridden by Sarah-Jayne Davies.  Photos by John Beasley for AGA (copyright)

Total Control Lady Riders Championships

Points can be earned by competing in the 28 AGA sponsored Ladies' Open Races, where all participants (or all declared horses if the qualifier is abandoned) become eligible for the £7,500 AGA Ladies' Open Point-to-Point Championship Hunter Chase Final at Cheltenham on Wednesday 2nd May 2012.

But added to the 28 qualifiers are a further 22 races where points can also be gained towards the AGA Total Control Lady Riders' Championship. These races, however, are not qualifiers for the Championship Hunter Chase Final. Vouchers will also be presented to the winner and all declared runners.

Double points will be awarded to riders participating in the Hunter Chase Final and points will be awarded to those finishing in the first four places in each of the other 50 races. For the purpose of the AGA Total Control Lady Riders' Championship, each rider will count the points from their best five results during the season, plus the final at Cheltenham (six races in total).

A weekly league table will be published in every participating meeting's racecard, which will also contain a £10 gift voucher for every racegoer to spend in the local AGA shop.



Social Media takes off
‘’We also decided to use social media to engage with the community this year so I tweet as @AGAPointing, as well as writing a blog http://agapointing.blogspot.com/. The blog is one month old and we are really going to push it during the next month as the initial reaction to it has been tremendous. The brief was to write a diary about our sponsorship, playing on the fact that when I meet you at a point-to-point I will try and sell you an AGA, it is designed to be a humorous and light-hearted look at what myself and the AGA Pointing team get up to as we travel the county with our AGA van.’’

David Simpson
Sponsorship coordinator