Castle Ends Week In Style

Although we weren’t inundated with runners last week, it was a busy one nonetheless with representatives the length and breadth of the country at Towcester, Wincanton, Uttoxeter, Aintree and Stratford and a winner with Prideofthecastle at the last named on Sunday ended the week on a high.  With the addition of a couple of nice youngsters from the Doncaster Sales on Thursday, it would have to be considered a productive time.

Prideofthecastle (pictured above) produced a pleasing first effort for the stable with his bumper success and continued the trend of promising young performers coming through the National Hunt flat ranks here at Pond House.  He was picked up from the sales at Cheltenham in January having won an Irish bumper last term.  Considering he was conceding a stone to the promising runner-up this has to be considered a very encouraging first effort and certainly bodes well for the future.  He will now enjoy a deserved break.

There were encouraging efforts too from another bumper horse, Knight Of Noir who was a decent runner-up at Towcester on Monday and Palace Jester who filled the same position in the handicap chase at Wincanton on Tuesday.  Hopefully both should be capable of going one better, although the former is now on his summer holidays and rates as a decent staying prospect, while Palace Jester will be kept on the go throughout the summer.

It was great to see champion jockey A P McCoy back in the saddle last week following the injury he sustained at Cheltenham last month which put an early end to his season.  A P has already ridden three winners and I am sure it won’t be long before he is once again challenging at the head of the table, even though Jason Maguire is setting a brisk pace with 18 winners already on the board.

A familiar name that won’t be back this season is high class hurdler/chaser Dan Breen (pictured right) who has been sold to resume his career over obstacles in America.  A winner in bumpers, over hurdles and fences, who was placed in Grade One company over fences behind Finian’s Rainbow in 2011, he has run some fine races in defeat back over timber this winter and he looks the ideal type to excel in the States.  I am sure that he will be a great success and wish his new connections luck with him.  He travels to the USA this weekend and I understand that he will be sharing a flight with another high-class National Hunt horse, Hunt Ball who will also be continuing his career on the other side of the Atlantic.

Continuing my look back at the season just past, I cannot sign off without mentioning the wealth of talent we have among our youngsters to look forward to.  During the course of last season we enjoyed no fewer than eighteen successes in bumpers – the combined total of our previous five seasons!  Of those we introduced potentially very smart performers such as Vieux Lion Rouge, Broadway Buffalo, Doctor Harper, Top Gamble, Red Sherlock, Kings Palace, Volt Face and The Liquidator (pictured left).  The last-named finished a great fourth in the Festival bumper at Cheltenham and followed that up by winning the Irish equivalent at the Punchestown Festival.

We are always looking to strengthen our team and as the old guard, the likes of Dan Breen and recently retired Ashkazar gradually thin out, we need to find young blood to continue to fly the flag for Pond House.  All of the aforementioned youngsters look to be extremely exciting recruits when sent over obstacles and along with the likes of established stars such as Dynaste there are plenty of reasons to be excited and optimistic for the future.