- Monday, 06 March 2017 16:22
- Written by David Pipe
Perspicace was a nice winner of the seller at Taunton last week. A spot of hunting in recent days sweetened our 6 year old up nicely and it was his third win of the season. He was dropping in grade and won as he should on official ratings but you can never tell so it was nice to get his head in front again. He enjoyed the better ground and it was a nice ride from Michael Heard.
The worst part of last week was that we very sadly lost Batavir at Ffos Las on Wednesday. He and David Noonan parted company at the second fence and unfortunately while running loose he suffered a fatal injury. Our thoughts and best wishes are with his owners, the Angove Family and Clare who has looked after him since the day he arrived from France. Our eight year old was the winner of two hurdle races and he was placed another seven times in this country which included being third in the fixed brush hurdle at Haydock. He will be sadly missed by us all.
Back on a more positive note there were some good performances from Duc De Beauchene, The Two Amigos, Taws and Shotavodka who all ran well and were placed. Duc De Beauchene finished second in his Ffos Las bumper on debut. He ran a little green but it was a pleasing performance and one I am very much looking forward to in the future. The Two Amigos ran his best race to date when he also finished second at Taunton. He appreciated the step up in distance and I am sure there will be an opportunity for him to go one better next time. Taws finished third in a listed mare’s race at Doncaster on Saturday. She was trying three miles for the first time and maybe did not quite see out the trip despite staying 2m5f on the flat. She is a very nice mare who will be winning over hurdles soon. Shotavodka tried valiantly to win the Veterans race at Newbury for the second time on Saturday. He ran a great race under a good ride from tom Scu, creeping into things nicely and holding every chance at the last but just fading out of things in the last 100 yards. It was a terrific run by our popular veteran as he really did not enjoy the ground and he will continue to give connections some fun in future veteran’s races.
Looking ahead to this week we have one runner at Exeter tomorrow, Martabot runs in the conditional jockeys race, the last race on the card. It is a ‘special’ race where horses are to be ridden by jockeys who have ridden less than 20 winners so we have booked Harry Reed who had a winner at Newbury on Saturday to ride. Thankfully Martabot was no worse for his tumble on the bend at Lingfield last time when running well and with a safe passage he should go close.
Rathlin Rose & Captain Guy Disney
Later in the week we have entries at Fontwell, Carlisle, Wincanton, Ayr, Leicester and Sandown so keep checking Chester’s Daily Blog for more news. On Friday however we are very much looking forward to running Rathlin Rose in the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown. Many of you will remember he and Captain Guy Disney were winners of the Royal Artillery Gold Cup at the track last month with an emotional success for all concerned and we are heading back there with the dream of repeating the feat. It is a great event I am proud to be associated with and fingers crossed for all concerned, it should be a good day whatever the outcome.
At the weekend we have a few entries at Sandown on Saturday. Great Tempo is entered in the juvenile and is joined by Ramses De Teille who is in the EBF final but will need a bit of luck to get a run in the race with his rating. Max Do Brazil is entered in the Imperial Cup a race I have had success in in the past with Gaspara, Ashkazar and Baltimore Rock. We can put a line through Max’s yard debut run at Cheltenham as he is better than that but we will be keeping an eye on the weather this week before we decide if he is to take his chance.
Away from the racing last week it was fairly busy! We had AP and the ITV cameras here on Wednesday. They have filmed a nice piece with dad around the yard to be shown during the Festival coverage next week. I had Nick Lightfoot at the RUK cameras here also doing a piece to be shown next week also so please make sure you look out for these! In between those visits, we played host to broadcaster and great friend Mike Vince on Thursday and below you can see my interview with him by clicking on the picture...
This week I am involved in a couple of Cheltenham preview evenings. I shall be at Exeter racecourse on Tuesday evening and at Taunton racecourse on Friday evening. I believe there are a few tickets available still for Friday evening so please get in touch with the recourse if you would like more details. At home we shall be putting the final touches to our team ahead of next week. A hectic but exciting time of year!
Wednesday Update
Today we bring you stable jockey Tom Scudamore's interview with Mike Vince. Click on the image below to view it...
Friday Update
In our latest pre-Cheltenham interview Mike Vince caught up with head lad Oliver Defew to find out what is going on behind the scenes. Click on the image below to hear what he had to say...
