- Tuesday, 07 May 2013 07:31
- Written by David Pipe
High Vile
Conor O'Farrell's 100th Career Winner
It was good to get the first winner of the season last week at Exeter courtesy of High Ville. Conor O’Farrell gave him a good front running ride as he is not the easiest as he can be rather keen in his races. The application of the hood seems to have helped him in his last couple of races and combined with the quicker ground this contributed to his first success. This was particularly memorable as it was Conor’s 100th winner of his career so very well done to him. High Ville does hold a couple of entries this week and could run again and will be kept on the go throughout the summer as he prefers the better ground. Since then the horses have been running well but just hitting the woodwork! Smooth Classic ran well under a big weight to finish second at Uttoxeter on Saturday and he surely will get his head in front before too long. Garryleigh bounced back to form yesterday with a good second at Ffos Las while Third of the Third ran a nice race to finish third on his first start for me. All of the mentioned horses will be kept going while the ground remains on the quicker side.
Looking ahead to the rest of this week I have a couple of runners at Exeter and then will have some in action at both Newton Abbot and Wincanton on Thursday. Investissement is running in the Chester Cup on Wednesday. We won this race a few years ago with Mamlook and although Investissement does have to improve on his most recent hurdling form, he does have some very useful flat form to his name. He will prefer returning to a quicker surface and WillieTwiston- Davies rides taking a valuable five pounds off his back. On Saturday at Haydock we have the mixed meeting of flat and jumps and I have eight entries in the long distance handicap hurdle, with a mixture of horses, those in need of some rain and those not! Amigo will only run if we have some rain and decent ground while Problematic and Weekend Miilionair won’t mind it if it stays dry! Dan Breen, Street Entertainer and War Singer are all entered in the Swinton hurdle and Poole Master has an entry in the only chase of the day. There are three jumps meetings on Sunday and I have a few entries at all three so keep checking on Chester’s Daily chat for more information about the yards runners throughout the week.
Now just a few more reflections on last season......
It was great to get a win from Alderluck at Bangor as he had been in the grip of the handicapper for some time and it was a much deserved success, his first since coming to Pond House and he also ran with huge credit on several occasions. On his summer holidays now, he will be back to contest more long distance chases in the autumn. Amigo was a double winner for the season, having won at Chepstow with Conor O’Farrell in the saddle he then won again at Ayr during the Scottish National meeting for Tom Scu. He loves the mud and I am really looking forward to him going over fences this winter, having already won over the larger obstacles in France. He is entered at Haydock on Saturday but will be on his summer holidays unless we have some rain!
Amigo
Horses that unfortunately picked up injuries and did not run last season included multiple winner Arab League and Balgarry while winners Barton Stacey and Martial Law have also missed most of the season despite winning races last summer. All four horses I’m pleased to report are all fine and I expect to be back running later this year.
Ballynagour was the very nice winner of a valuable prize at Warwick and then of course he was all the rage for the Cheltenham festival. Unfortunately his track record in races is a bit in and out and so this showed to be when disappointing in the Byrne Group plate. He is on is summer break and we are looking forward to having him back to contest some top handicaps in the autumn.
Big Occasion is one of the most consistent horses in the yard and always tries his best. Perhaps slightly disappointing before Christmas we tweaked a few things with his training at home and he seems to have been a different horse since. He improved for a step up in distance and after a promising run at Lingfield we were delighted with his win in the Midlands National if a little surprised at how easily he won! He then went on to prove it was know fluke with a career best effort in the Scottish National, coming second on ground that was probably quicker than ideal but running a fantastic race. He is now at home on his holidays and we are dreaming of a tilt at the Welsh National and then maybe a go at the ‘big one’ although he is only six years old so he has plenty of time and a great future in front of him.
Big Occasion
Broadway Buffalo is another who deserves a special mention as he won five races last season, bumpers and hurdles, the first five races of his life. He won his debut at Worcester last May and then had a little holiday. He came back to win a competitive bumper at Aintree and then went on to win his first three starts over hurdles. We decided to bypass Cheltenham as we thought it was the best decision for him in the long run but he did have a crack at a competitive handicap at Aintree. He ran well for a long way and will have learnt a great deal from the experience. He is only a baby and is a very nice exciting prospect for the future.
Broadway Buffalo
Talking of five time winners, we have another of those!! Home Run was a revelation on bottomless ground in the middle of the season. He gave young Sam Welton his first winner for me when winning at Exeter at the beginning of December and he then went on to win another four races within a month giving Kieron Edgar, Sam Welton again, Michael Heard and Francis Hayes all days to remember! He is a remarkable little horse who has still be running with great credit of late having been raised over 2 ½ stone in the handicap. He is entered in the three mile race at Haydock on Saturday and may have his first try at this distance.
Home Run
Another multiple winner who has been fantastic last season is the mare Too Generous who has won four races. She won her first two bumpers show great tenacity and although disappointing on her hurdling debut she then won her next two starts. That makes it four wins from five career starts and not many can do that! She was in fact my 50th winner of the season when winning at Fontwell on Boxing Day under Mikey Ennis.
Boxing Day was one of the best days of my training career when I had an across the card five timer. The last two mentioned horses Home Run and Too Generous were part of the winners, while Close House made it a double at Wincanton and Top Gamble was and easy Bumper winner at Ffos Las. The main highlight of the day however was Dynaste winning the Grade 1 Feltham novice chase at Kempton. There were high expectations of our six year old who had been impressive when winning at Cheltenham and Newbury. He was equally as impressive at Kempton and made it a day not to forget. It was straight to the Festival after that. There was much deliberation about whether to run him in the RSA 3mile race or the 2m4f Jewson. We left the decision to the last possible moment and went for the latter race. As we know, he was beaten by Benefficient into second place. Although hugely disappointed I don’t think he ran up to his best that day and so I am not sure it actually mattered. He was a completely different horse come Aintree, bouncing around the parade ring and duly winning like the super horse we know he is. There was lots of joy and relief from that win at Aintree and he has gone off on his summer holidays now and we can all dream about the top 3 mile races this season.
Dynaste
There are several more horses and special moments to pick out from the past year, too many to mention in one go! To be continued......
