- Monday, 06 October 2014 15:58
- Written by David Pipe
With another three winners last week, our seasonal tally ticked over to thirty nine successes and the horses remain in very good heart. Bengali was the ready winner of a bumper on her racecourse debut, Gevrey Chambertin scored his first success over fences at Bangor and Famousandfearless followed up his recent chase success with victory at Uttoxeter yesterday, while there were a number of other noteworthy performances through the course of the week. Meanwhile Tom Scudamore was in good form in the saddle, securing his 50th winner some 7 weeks ahead of his previous best last year.
Our first winner of the week came courtesy of the very well-related mare Bengali at Sedgefield on Tuesday under stable jockey Tom Scudamore. A half-sister to Graded winner China Rock and very useful hurdlers Barrakilla and River Pirate she is certainly bred in the purple and had been showing encouragement at home. It is always difficult to know what you are up against in these bumpers where there is little form to go on, although she pulled well away from a previous bumper winner of Donald McCain’s with another that boasted previous placed form in similar contests back in third so the form has a solid look to it. She clearly stays very well and can only improve for the experience and is a nice prospect for owners Somerset Racing.
Earlier in the week we played host to Roger Stanley and Paul Reynolds who came down to see their grey gelding Gevrey Chambertin schooling over fences in preparation for his seasonal debut. Gevrey had won the valuable Fixed Brush Hurdle at Haydock last season but things transpired against him when sent over the larger obstacles at Ascot and then again at the Cheltenham Festival (where he was hampered by an early faller). Therefore it was our primary goal to get a nice confidence boosting clear round for him at Bangor on Thursday – with only three runners lining up he was entitled to win on the pick of his hurdles form as his prohibitive S.P of 1/4 would suggest, although it was certainly an interesting race for spectators! Jumping soundly, he looked beaten at the penultimate fence before finding his second wind and staying on to record a narrow (but somewhat cosy) success. Far from being disappointed, this will certainly have done his confidence no end of good and he can rank much higher than the bare form of this race - he remains one of our most exciting prospects for novices’ chases this season.
Talking of progressive young chasers, I was very pleased by the success of Famousandfearless in the three mile handicap chase at Uttoxeter on Sunday. He had disappointed me somewhat in a spell over hurdles last term, but the combination of a switch to fences and 3m clearly suited him well (as one might reasonably expect from an Irish point-to-point winner) and he came away to score comfortably. His jumping should always stand him in good stead and he is another that can continue to progress.
While not victorious, I thought that Barton Stacey ran a personal best to finish runner-up to Creepy at Chepstow under A P McCoy. He has done very well to win three times already this season and he will not always bump into one like this, nevermind have to concede weight! He has proven to be one of the pleasant surprises of our summer campaign. Meanwhile, Bathwick Man ran his usual honest race when third, beaten only two lengths at Warwick and he can continue to be competitive so long as the handicapper isn’t too harsh. Lady Of Longstone ran well in her bumper to finish third under her winners’ penalty on the same card and she already looks as though she is crying out for further and a set of obstacles in front of her.
Looking to the week ahead, we have plenty of horses entered up including promising youngsters such as Navanman, Mount Haven and Brook to name but a few, while stable star Dynaste could make a return to action at Auteuil on Sunday. He has been entered in a Group 3 hurdle race over 3900m (2m3½f) and this looks like a good starting point for him this term. As usual there is excellent prize money on offer in France so this could be the first of a few more forays abroad for our team this term. He is in good order at home and I am looking forward to seeing him in action on the course once again. As usual, for all the latest news on stable runners you can keep up to date with Chester’s Daily Chat or follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.
On Friday we were pleased to welcome legendary broadcaster Mike Vince to Pond House to conduct his annual interviews with myself, Tom Scu and a number of the team here at the stables. Mike very kindly gives of his time to help us bring you some interesting (and hopefully profitable!) content for the weeks ahead. Featured below you will find my interview where we look back at our successful start to the season and pick out a few horses to follow over the coming months. We will bring you further interviews over the coming weeks with the hope of finding you a few winners, so I hope you enjoy them and don’t forget to keep checking back!
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