- Monday, 19 May 2014 16:04
- Written by David Pipe
I am saddened to bring you news that a grand old favourite of Pond House stables, Blowing Wind (pictured above by Bernard Parkin) was put to sleep peacefully this moring at the age of 21. Twice a winner at the Cheltenham Festival and twice placed in the Grand National, he was a wonderful horse to have in the yard and will be greatly missed.
Peter Deal, who owned ‘Blowers’ since his arrival at the stable in late 1997 said, “You could not wish to own a more exciting horse than Blowing Wind. He raced for us for seven full seasons, and always at a high level. He ran 38 times, won 9 and placed 12 times. He is best known for achieving the Imperial Cup and County Hurdle double in the same year thus winning the Sunderland’s Bonus Prize, which was £50,000 in 1998. He then followed up one month later to win the Scottish Champion Hurdle. Later he was placed third in two successive Grand Nationals in 2001 and 2002. AP McCoy has always claimed that Blowing Wind’s first Grand National in 2001 was “the one that got away” when he was severely hampered when going extremely well and was re-mounted to finish third. The following year, before the Grand National he won the Mildmay of Flete at the 2002 Cheltenham Festival and thereby became one of the very few horses that have won a Handicap Hurdle and a Handicap Chase at the Festival Meeting. He was given a wonderful ride that day by Ruby Walsh which became Ruby’s first Cheltenham Festival Steeplechase victory.
He retired to Rupert and Amanda Sweeting in Oxfordshire where Amanda hunted him regularly for seven years with the Heythrop. He often led the field over the most fearsome of obstacles. He was instantly recognisable when out hunting and enjoyed a large fan club.
He spent his final four years in happy but active retirement at The Moorcroft Racehorse Retraining Centre in Sussex where he was a great local favourite and often led their demonstrations and was ridden regularly under the tutelage of Mary Henley-Smith.
It was a privilege and pleasure to own such a wonderful horse who has left us with so many happy memories. His exploits over such a long period ensured he had a great following.”
My father, who trained Blowing Wind for the duration of his British career added, “We bought him from France and when Peter saw him, he showed the white of his eye which immediately put him off. Fortunately, I managed to persuade him that the horse showed a good temperament and attitude and Peter decided to buy him for a bit of fun, and what fun he had!
During his time with us Blowing Wind took us to many of the top races, but I will always fondly remember his victory in the Imperial Cup at Sandown which he followed-up the next week with success in the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival under great rides from champion jockey A P McCoy. In so doing he landed the big double bonus which was a marvelous achievement. To win both of these highly competitive handicaps with ease under big weights illustrates the horses’ class and I will always remember A P’s ‘Dettori style’ flying dismount in the Cheltenham winners’ enclosure afterwards - the only time it has ever been done.
He was an absolute pleasure to train – he was very easy and relaxed. He wore blinkers on only three occasions (never winning in them) and never missed a season, retiring safe and sound after the 2003/4 campaign. He gave us all so much glory and will be greatly missed.”
*****
Come this time of year, the horses are normally turned out for their well-earned holidays, barring a small team that we normally keep back for the action over the summer months. That is once again the case, but considering the wealth of yards that seem to specialise in racking up impressive hauls during the ‘off-season’ you can imagine my surprise at topping the charts a month into the new campaign despite only a relatively modest number of runners. It does help of course that the horses and our stable jockey have been in wonderful form – 11 winners from 27 runners at a strike rate of 41% is an excellent return. I am not getting carried away however; this is only the first few weeks of a long, hard season but it is certainly a solid foundation on which to build.
I don’t think that I have ever seen Tom Scudamore riding better than he is at present. His maiden ton of winners last season certainly seems to have done wonders for his confidence and he was aboard all five of the stables’ winners last week, including one which had to be a contender for ride of the week.
I was relieved to see Cloughernagh Boy (pictured above) make an impressive winning debut for the yard in the bumper at Towcester on Monday. There was plenty of pressure to succeed, not least because he is part-owned by my partner Leanne’s father(!), not to mention the ever colourful Stuart Mercer and his son Simon. This former Irish point-to-point winner hasn’t been with us that long but he already looks a nice recruit for the stable and the fact that he has now won on good and heavy ground means that there are plenty of opportunities available to him over the coming months.
The good form continued on Tuesday when the yard scored a double at Ffos Las courtesy of Virtuel d’Oudon and Taj Badalandabad. Virtuel d’Oudon was a short price to make it three wins from four starts since joining the stable and duly obliged in typically tenacious fashion. He has been a fantastic servant since we bought him relatively cheaply from the sales and I would be delighted to have a few more like him. He is as tough as old boots and the way he grinds out his races means that he shouldn’t ever get clobbered by the handicapper. He will have a well deserved rest now and will probably go novice chasing next term where I would expect him to pick up where he left off.
Taj Badalandabad (pictured right) completed the double by landing the bumper with the minimum of fuss despite showing signs of inexperience on only his second ever start. He should certainly have learned plenty for the run and rates a nice prospect, especially when sent over timber - he may well have another start in bumpers first though. Hopefully a few regular readers of this column will have had an interest after he was given a positive mention last week along with Cloughernagh Boy and Virtuel d’Oudon
I thought that Tom Scudamore was showcased at his very best at Worcester on Wednesday when successful aboard All Force Majeure in the bumper. Our unraced four year old son of Dom Alco was extremely green and looked one of the first beaten as Scu began to administer reminders down the back straight. However, he just about managed to keep in touch and once finding his feet in the home straight he began to pass horses despite running around to his right and left. He collared the favourite and A P McCoy close home and even won a shade cosily – he will obviously benefit from further as well as softer surface and will make a smashing staying chaser in time.
Barton Stacey completed the week in the best possible fashion with a facile success in the 2m4f novices’ handicap chase at Stratford on Sunday. He certainly seemed to appreciate the return to this quicker surface and while not the easiest of types to catch right, this appeared to be an improved performance and this former point-to-point winner should prove capable of holding his own in similar company over fences.
Looking to this week it looks like being quiet on the racing front. We have two runners this afternoon (The Darling Boy and promising novices’ chaser Top Wood) at Towcester, while we have a handful of entries across the meetings for the remainder of the week. Hopefully there will be a winner or two among them to keep our momentum going. One notable one to look out for could be Broadway Buffalo (pictured left) who was a good winner of the Long Distance hurdle at Haydock on Swinton Day. He is entered in a beginners’ chase at Uttoxeter on Sunday and looks an exciting recruit to the larger obstacles. He has always possessed the size and scope for fences and if translating his hurdling ability, he should have little problem winning his share of races in that sphere.
It is a busy time off the track as the Doncaster sales commence tomorrow and I have been burning the midnight oil scouring the catalogues and form books looking for potential bargains and more winners for the season ahead. We have a proven track record of finding the right sort of horse for the right sort of money, Virtuel d’Oudon a £20,000 recruit from Brightwells being the latest example of this. So if you are looking to branch into ownership, do feel free to contact my office on 01884 840715 for a no obligation chat to discuss your requirements, or alternatively you can e-mail me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Finally, for all of the latest news on the stables’ runners you can keep up to date with Chester’s daily column or follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.
