Although it was a relatively quiet week on the racing front we still had plenty to keep us occupied with the small matter of our Owners’ Day to organise on Saturday followed by an assembly of local businessmen on Sunday. I am pleased to report that all went without a hitch, while we were also among the winners with the success of Iniciar (pictured above) at Worcester last Tuesday which extended our tenure at the top of the trainers’ table for another week.

Iniciar was a useful performer on the flat in France and has always possessed plenty of ability, although he is perhaps not the most straightforward of individuals. I was thrilled therefore when he was able to run out the wide margin winner of the two mile handicap hurdle at Worcester. Travelling head lad Bob Hodge did a good job getting him to consent to line-up and jockey Daryl Jacob was taking no chances when clear after the last, driving him right out to the line. He will face a significant rise in the weights now, so things will get much tougher although hopefully this success will have done his confidence the world of good and he can continue to progress.

Awesome Tunes (fourth) and Skylander (sixth) were our only other runners of the week and I have to say that Skylander was a little disappointing on the back of three very good runs. This probably came a little soon for him after those efforts so he will have a little break to freshen him up and I am sure he will be winning again be it over hurdles or fences.

Looking to the week ahead we have four runners this afternoon at Worcester; Red Square Revival, Kalifouchon, Perspicace and Baby Sherlock. Worcester has been a happy hunting ground for us during the summer and it would be great if we could add to our seasonal tally.

There is no jump action on Tuesday or Thursday, while we do not travel to Kelso on Wednesday so the next Pond House runners will come on Friday when the admirable four year old Impulsive American reverts to the flat for the two mile handicap at Ayr where he will be ridden by flat jockeys’ championship leader Jim Crowley.

On Saturday we will have another runner on the level as Low Key is an intended runner in the Cesarewitch Trial at Newmarket which he won twelve months ago. We have booked last season’s champion apprentice Tom Marquand once again, although things will be tougher from a higher mark this time around.

Looking back, we had a wonderful day on Saturday when we hosted our Pond House Owners’ Day with around 250 people joining us from up and down the country (and one or two from further afield!). They were able to greet old friends equine and human, inspect the facilities, view the parade of horses and enjoy a lovely dinner in the marquee before summer games on the lawn, ice cream and fish ‘n chips! Thank you to everybody who took the time to join us, I hope that all who attended had an enjoyable time, I know I did!

Speaking of which I am now able to offer the books accompanying the day (pictured below) for sale.  The publication includes interviews, staff and stable features, as well as individual biographies of the Pond House horses for the coming season and is beautifully illustrated with some great pictures.  It is a lovely book and will provide a good read for racing enthusiasts and followers of the stable and represents great value at only £10 (including post and packaging).  We accept payment via cash, cheque or Paypal, simply send your order to us at Pond House, Nicholashayne, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9QY or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  if you are paying by Paypal.  Furthermore we will be making a contribution to the local Air Ambulance from the proceeds of each sale.  Please make cheques payable to David Pipe.

We held a much smaller gathering on Sunday for some of the local businesses and I was able to get a great picture of local Member of Parliament Neil Parish (pictured right) taking our equicisor for a spin. I think he will be sticking to politics rather than embarking on a career in the saddle!

Finally, I will be launching a racing club that will bring the thrills of racehorse ownership to the everyday racing enthusiast at a fraction of the cost of outright ownership. The concept is still in its developmental stage at this time but will include regular updates, videos from the gallops and photographs through a member’s log-in page on our website, while there will be stable visits, racecourse runners and much more! We will also be forming some exclusive syndicates over the coming months, so if either of these initiatives might be of interest, please do drop me a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I would be pleased to provide further details.

In the meantime for all the latest news from Pond House, do keep up to date with Chester’s Daily Chat or follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.

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