Two Weeks To Go!

The countdown to the Cheltenham Festival continues apace and it is hard to believe that as I write this there is only a fortnight to go. Predictably it is going to be a frenetic two weeks as I put the finish preparations for the horses, decide upon the most suitable target for each and that is before I get onto the Cheltenham Preview tour that also starts next week. This year I will be appearing on the panel for the Saunton Sands Hotel (2nd March), Exeter racecourse (3rd March) and Taunton racecourse (6th March), as well as conducting a telephone interview for the Scottish preview on 3rd March.

Another four winners last week show that the stable continues in good form and moves us ever closer to the ton with 98 winners so far this term. The Darling Boy was the first to contribute to the tally last week with a battling success under Tom Scudamore at Huntingdon on Thursday. Indeed, he showed a really likeable attitude to fight back after being headed at the last hurdle and give his ever enthusiastic owner a tremendous thrill. The manner of victory and margin would suggest that he will remain feasibly weighted and we will try to find something similar for him before too long.

Twentytwo’s Taken (pictured right) maintained her progression with an impressive victory in the mares’ novices’ hurdle at Exeter on Friday. With the likely leader departing early it meant that the pace was only ordinary which wouldn’t really have suited our charge given her free going nature. Even so, she is clearly learning and ran out a ready seven length winner. She will continue to improve with experience and is a lovely mare to have in the yard. She is entered in both the County Hurdle and Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys handicap hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival; although the way those races are looking she is unlikely to get in at this stage.

Virtuel d’Oudon and Ballywilliam completed a double for the stable at Chepstow on Saturday, both being partnered by conditional jockey Kieron Edgar. Virtuel d’Oudon was the game winner of the Pertemps Qualifier, edging out stable mate Katkeau in the shadow of the post despite a mistake at the last. He has proven to be a real bargain since his purchase from the Brightwells Sales in January 2014, scoring five times in the meantime. While he will need to improve again from his reassessed rating, he only ever does enough and it is entirely feasible that he can remain competitive. He is entered in the final of the series as is Katkeau, who lost nothing in defeat and we will decide where they run closer to the time.

Ballywilliam (pictured top) looked like another useful recruit for the stable when running out a ready winner of the concluding bumper. With the other joint favourite below his best, it is difficult to know what he achieved in winning well but he is clearly a smart prospect. His attention will be turned to a career over hurdles now and he will make a smashing chaser in time, particularly when faced with a test of stamina.

Talking of stamina tests, they do not come much more challenging than the Grand National and my parents were in attendance for the announcement of the weights at the Royal Opera House in London last Tuesday. There were no great surprises from our stand point – our Grand Sefton winner Poole Master was allotted a mark of 10-10 which would be fine, but he needs to finish in the frame over three miles to qualify and unfortunately we are running out of time with him. Soll has 10-2, The Package 10-0, Broadway Buffalo 10-0 and Standing Ovation 9-7 and we face an anxious wait to see which if any get a run.

On the same day as the National weights, eleven of the Cheltenham Festival handicaps closed and the Pond House team were represented in nine of them. Once the weights are announced later in the week at Cheltenham, we will then be able to start piecing together where our entries have their best chances. In the meantime we have:

Ultima Handicap Chase – Gevrey Chambertin, The Package (placed three previous times in the race), Standing Ovation

Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle – Ballynagour, Balgarry, Katkeau, Unique de Cotte, Vieux Lion Rouge, Dell’ Arca, Batavir, Willem, Alternatif Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – Unanimité, Bidourey, Brook

Pertemps Handicap Hurdle (Final) – Bygones Sovereign, Katkeau, Unique de Cotte, Virtuel d’Oudon, Knight of Noir, Batavir

Brown Advisory Handicap Hurdle – Monetaire, Easter Meteor Kim Muir Handicap Chase – The Package, Houston Dynimo, Soll, Standing Ovation, Gevrey Chambertin, Smiles For Miles, Broadway Buffalo County Hurdle – Balgarry, Swing Bowler, Heath Hunter, Baltimore Rock, Dell’ Arca, Twentytwo’s Taken, Willem

Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – Balgarry, Unique de Cotte, Vieux Lion Rouge, Skylander, Dell’ Arca, Batavir, Twentytwo’s Taken, Our Chief, Mount Haven, Willem, Alternatif

Grand Annual Handicap Chase – Monetaire, My Brother Sylvest

Entries close tomorrow for a race very close to my heart, The Midland National at Uttoxeter. I would dearly love to win the race again as we have had a stranglehold on it for the last four years courtesy of the victories of Minella Four Star, Master Overseer, Big Occasion and Goulanes. I will reveal this year’s entries in next week’s blog. In the meantime, for all the other news from around the stable and latest news on our runners keep up to date with Chester’s Daily Blog or follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.