Pride Continues Good Run

It was a quiet start to the week with the first runners from the stable coming on Thursday at Wincanton, although come the weekend it was all hands on deck with eleven runners at Sandown and Aintree.  The stable enjoyed a nice winner at Exeter on Friday courtesy of Prideofthecastle and I thought there were a number of other praiseworthy performances as well, not least from Red Seventy, Home Run and Swing Bill.

Back to Thursday and Red Seventy ran above expectations to finish runner-up in the maiden hurdle at Wincanton.  He has been a decent horse on the level in the past but in more recent times has been rather less reliable.  He obviously learned plenty from his hurdles debut at Taunton to record a very good performance here, finishing second to a well regarded type in Stand To Reason.  Given a very good ride from conditional jockey Tom Bellamy who grasped the nettle early in the back straight when there was no pace on, he opened up a decent lead and briefly looked to have pinched the race turning for home.  Time may show he was flattered by his proximity to the winner, but this was an encouraging effort from Red Seventy suggesting that something similar is most definitely within his compass.

We went one better on Friday at Exeter when Prideofthecastle turned over the favourite in a competitive and tactical four runner novices’ hurdle.  Tom Scudamore dictated a sedate pace aboard our dual bumper winning six year old and he kept enough up his sleeve for when the race developed in the home straight.  Although a tactical affair run at a false pace, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him go on to better things.

Of our runners at the weekend, Home Run continues to progress and ran yet another good race in finishing second at Sandown in the Pertemps handicap hurdle qualifier under Kieron Edgar.  Five times a winner in lower grades last term, he has continued to flourish and proved there was no fluke about his win at Cheltenham last month.  He can expect another rise in the weights from the handicapper which will push his rating into the 130’s – not bad when you consider that he won his first race from a mark of 89!  So long as there is plenty of cut in the ground, he should continue to be competitive.

Swing Bill continued his love affair at Aintree with another creditable performance over the Grand National fences by finishing fifth in the Becher Chase.  Prominent for much of the way under Conor O’Farrell, he became a little outpaced before staying on again in the closing stages.  His ultimate target will be another crack at the Grand National in April.  He is now owned by Halewood International, who are sponsoring the race via their ‘Crabbies’ brand and our evergreen twelve year old will give them a lively contender next year.

Former RSA Chase winner Boston’s Angel didn’t fare so well in the same race on his first run for the stable.  He joined us earlier in the campaign for a change of scenery having seemingly lost his enthusiasm in Ireland.  He jumped these National fences with aplomb under Tom Scu but going out onto the final circuit it became clear that his heart wasn’t in it and he was wisely pulled up before Bechers.  Three times a Grade One winner, he will now be retired and will doubtless have a wonderful life with the Scouller’s who derived so much pleasure from his success.

There was a fascinating piece in today’s (Monday's) Racing Post about Professor Caroline Tisdall who owns the likes of Greatwood Hurdle winner Dell’ Arca, Vieux Lion Rouge and a half of recent purchase Un Temps Pour Tout.  Caroline, a Professor of Art History has led a diverse and varied life, writing books, film-making and scuba diving (not necessarily all at once) and is now enjoying the fruits of her labour in the shape of her horses.  A lady with many strings to her bow, she loves to come down to see her horses and her story is well worth a read.

Above: Simon & Stuart Mercer with Dan Breen and Martial Law

Talking of owners, we had a visit from one of our most colourful patrons this afternoon.  I thought that Father Christmas had come early, but it was Stuart Mercer with his son Simon (pictured right with Head Lad Eddie Buckley (centre).  As usual Stuart was very generously bearing gifts of champagne and cup cakes for the staff and was in his usual jovial mood – not bad when you consider that he is a life long Manchester United supporter!  It was great to see them both and I would dearly love to get these true enthusiasts back in the winners’ enclosure before too long.

Looking to the week ahead we have a couple of runners tomorrow (Tuesday) at Uttoxeter.  Exciting bumper performer Legacy Gold makes her hurdling debut in the maiden, while Bladoun takes his chance in the handicap hurdle.  We have plenty of other entries for the remainder of the week, leading up to Cheltenham on Friday and Saturday.  This morning we confirmed Salut Flo at the six day stage for the December Gold Cup at the Prestbury track and he will be our only possible runner in the big race.  As usual, for all the latest news on the stable’s runners you can visit Chester’s Daily Chat…