- Monday, 25 March 2013 15:52
- Written by David Pipe
It is unsurprising therefore that it was a quiet week for us with only eleven runners, nonetheless the majority of them performed well with eight reaching the first four places and Shotavodka producing a particularly impressive performance with victory at Newbury on 22nd March.
Former Irish National Hunt flat winner Shotavodka is clearly progressing at a rate of knots and having won at Taunton and Sandown on his two most recent starts, he was completing the hat-trick on his handicap debut over hurdles at Newbury. Prior to the race I had thought that a mark of 132 was no more than fair, but given the way in which he saw out the trip having been prominent with Ivor’s Flutter from the outset in a truly run race on heavy ground, this was doubtless a much improved performance. There is no reason why he shouldn’t handle better ground (if we get any ever again!) and he could head to Aintree where he would be a relatively fresh horse for this time of year.
Talking of Aintree we left just one horse in the Grand National at the latest forfeit stage last Tuesday. With both Problema Tic and The Package disappointing at the Cheltenham Festival it made most sense to take them out and rely on Swing Bill who ran such a great race to finish 10th in the race last year. He seemed to really enjoy himself twelve months ago and would surely have finished much closer without a rival falling directly in his path at the Chair. We will find another opportunity for Problema Tic, while The Package is finished for the season and will go home and enjoy a nice break at Timmy Murphy’s.
Before the big race there is an unusual event taking place that is normally reserved for the Cheltenham Festival…a Grand National preview evening. It is to take place at Somerset County Cricket Club at Taunton on Tuesday 2nd April at 7.30pm and will be hosted by former eight times champion jockey Peter Scudamore. On the panel will be Scu’s father Michael, who won the race aboard Oxo in 1959, Neale Doughty who was successful aboard Hallo Dandy and Hywel Davies who won the Aintree spectacular aboard Last Suspect. Also in attendance will be press pundits Templegate of the Sun and Value Scope from the Daily Mirror. Tickets cost £10 on the door or £8 in advance from 01271 322919 and all proceeds will go to the excellent Children’s Hospice South West.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) marks a notable landmark as my long suffering senior secretary Gail Harrison (or ‘Boycott’ as she is sometimes known) will have been at Pond House for twenty-nine years. Gail (pictured right) used to sometimes collect me from school in her little Mini Clubman back when I was in short trousers! Prior to joining us she also worked for legendary trainer Fulke Walwyn and trained a few horses herself, including Trentishoe who won the John Corbet Cup at Stratford in 1976 – something that she still likes to remind me of now!
Looking further ahead this week it is likely to be another quiet one – we will have no runners on Tuesday, while Good Friday as usual marks a completely blank day on the racing front. We have a number of entries at Wetherby on Wednesday and at Ffos Las on Thursday, but the baulk of our entries focus on the weekend at Haydock and Newton Abbot on Saturday and Plumpton and Towcester on Sunday.
It is certainly good to have Newton Abbot back – with their new season nearly upon us I guess it must be nearly summer! Hopefully they will have more luck with their fixtures this time around having lost a number of meetings to the elements last season.
As usual you can keep up to date with all the latest news from the yard by visiting Chester’s Daily Chat or following us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.
