The good form of the stable was maintained last week with a couple of winners over jumps taking our seasonal tally to 21, while the long journey up to Scotland was made worthwhile with the flat success of the incredible Impulsive American who was notching his eighth victory since joining the Pond House team. With some high profile entries for the week ahead these are certainly exciting times, so to find out more read on…

The day after our open weekend I was delighted to be back among the winners with the success of Red Square Revival (pictured above) in the bumper at Worcester last Monday. I was particularly pleased to get a first win on the board for owner Judy Halewood whose colours were famously carried to victory in the Aintree Grand National aboard Amberleigh House in 2004. Judy had demonstrated great patience with Red Square Revival who we had last season but could not get to the track and I was thrilled that he was able to repay her with a win on his racecourse debut. Despite showing distinct signs of inexperience our fine, big five year old son of Presenting ran out a ready winner under a positive ride for Tom Scudamore and he looks a staying chaser in the making.

I have often waxed lyrical about our prolific four year old gelding Impulsive American and I have no reason to go back on any of my comments following another success, this time on the flat at Ayr on Friday. He has been an amazing acquisition since joining us last year and this gallant success under the season’s leading flat jockey Jim Crowley was his eighth for the stable in that time (with three wins on the flat, three over hurdles and two over fences). He is an excellent traveller too as demonstrated by this being his sixth success in Scotland from only ten starts. Given his placid demeanour it is not difficult to see why he travels so well - he is extremely laid back (as you can see from the below picture of him taken before the race by travelling head lad Craig Wylie) and takes everything in his stride. He saw the longer trip of 2m1½f out really well on ground that would have been plenty soft enough for him and as he is still relatively unexposed over marathon trips on the level so there are even more options available to him now and he is a joy to have in the yard.

It was good to be able to provide conditional jockey David Noonan with a winner at the weekend. The young Irishman had been experiencing something of a quiet spell so it was nice to be able to break that run with an excellent ride aboard Gabrial The Great in the 2m4f handicap chase at Uttoxeter on Sunday. Gabrial had often made the running in the past and traditionally been very free in his races giving himself little chance of staying the longer distance but he settled beautifully towards the rear on this occasion for David and jumped with aplomb. Hopefully he will continue to be more tractable and he can add to his tally over fences.

Looking to this week, it is another blank day on the racing front this afternoon (Monday) as there no jumps fixtures although the pace picks up as the week goes on. We will have two runners at Warwick tomorrow as Tobacco Road contests the novices’ hurdle and For ‘N’ Against, already a dual winner this term runs in the marathon handicap hurdle.

Perth hold a two day fixture on Wednesday and Thursday and given our excellent recent record in Scotland you will be unsurprised to hear that we intend having runners at the fixture. Mango Cap is likely to run in the 3m handicap hurdle – he had some decent form in France and hopefully the longer trip will help to bring about some improvement.

Thursday is looking like a very exciting day with the aforementioned Impulsive American a possible runner in the novices’ chase, while What A Moment is a likely participant in the three mile novices hurdle. 2015 Champion Bumper winner Moon Racer is an intended runner in the novices’ hurdle and it will be great to have him back on course following his excellent second at Punchestown in April. He has done plenty of work at home, has pleased me with his schooling and looks an exciting recruit to hurdles. The Perth crowd could be in for a real treat as the 2016 Cheltenham Bumper winner Ballyandy also features among the entries, what a clash that would be!

Cartmel scorer Father Edward and Gabrial The Great feature among the entries at Worcester n Friday, while Father Edward is also engaged at Market Rasen on Saturday. As usual, for all the latest on the Pond House runners, do keep in touch with Chester’s Daily Chat or follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.


We are always pleased to hear about some of the old Pond House inmates and this morning I had a nice e-mail from Andrew Pelis of Course Specialist magazine who had seen great favourite Our Vic (pictured right) at the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing at Newmarket on Saturday. He continues to be involved at the British Racing School and is still remarkably spritely for his eighteen years. It is great to hear that he is enjoying a fulfilling retirement and looking so well.  Many thanks to Andrew for getting in touch.

Finally, don’t forget to order your copy of my 2016/17 brochure which features a horse-by-horse guide to the Pond House string for the coming season as well as some interesting features about myself, the stable and the facilities at Pond House and some great illustrations. We only have a limited amount in stock and I believe they are good value at £10 per copy (including post and packaging) so make sure to order early. Furthermore we will be making a contribution from the proceeds of each sale to the local air ambulance. We accept cash, cheque (made payable to David Pipe) or payment via Paypal – simply send your order and payment to Pond House, Nicholashayne, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9QY or if you are paying with Paypal, drop us an e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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