100 Up!

It was another good week for the stable with four more winners taking us through the magical century mark for the season. At the start of each campaign I always set myself a clear and challenging goal – 100 winners, £1 million in prize money and a Cheltenham Festival winner. If I satisfy all of those objectives I consider it to be a very successful season. To some a Cheltenham winner is not the be-all and end-all, although it is the very pinnacle of our sport – the Olympics of racing if you like, and so I would be surprised if any of my counterparts did not aspire to winning at the Festival.

Of course, Cheltenham is the ultimate test of a trainers’ skill – it is the toughest four days of jump racing in the world with the very best equine stars taking each other on at the finest natural amphitheatre. Once again, I would be more than happy with a solitary winner – a comment that would apply I suspect, to every trainer bar a certain W Mullins! It all kicks off in just eight days’ time now and we will be sending a select squad of horses to try to replicate last season’s incredibly haul of three winners.

All of that is ahead, but looking back we had another cracking week. Rathealy began to fulfil some of the promise that I knew he had by scoring in decent fashion at Plumpton on Monday, while Saint John Henry (pictured right)was most impressive in landing the feature staying handicap hurdle at Bangor on Wednesday and in the process bringing up our one hundredth success of the season. Saint John Henry has flourished since being upped in trip and doesn’t look as though he is finished yet. Being only five and having a low mileage, he is still open to plenty of improvement – he has won all three of his completed starts this term (the latest from a mark of 113) and we will up our sights a bit with him.

I was delighted when Vif Argent won his second race of the current campaign at Newbury on Friday in a gruelling slog under conditional jockey Kieron Edgar. He isn’t always the easiest to predict but he is more than capable on his day over hurdles or fences and we will look for something similar for him in due course. For those of you who like a bit of trivia, not only was he our first winner of the season, he was also our one hundred and first!

Our final winner of the week came at Newbury on Saturday and it came in the form of the giant Soll (pictured top of page) in the valuable veteran’s chase. He travelled very well in the blinkers for Conor O’Farrell and he was always doing enough in the closing stages to repel Relax. He appeared to be dossing in front and I think he would have found more if seriously challenged. This success was from a mark of 139, the mark that he has been allotted in the Grand National - that will not alter now, even though I am sure the handicapper will raise him for this success. He jumps well and stays all day and would appear to be our best hope of success in the big one at Aintree this year.

This week looks very much like being the ‘calm before the storm’ – we have one runner tomorrow at Exeter, Great Choice who contests the novices’ hurdle and would have decent claims on his fine second at Cheltenham earlier in the season. We could well have a few runners before the weekend at the likes of Fontwell or Wincanton, although we will most certainly be having runners at Sandown on Saturday!

Saturday of course is the day Sandown host the Imperial Cup, a race that offers a substantial bonus for any horse that can win the race before going on to success at the Cheltenham Festival. This year we have three entries; Bidourey, Heath Hunter and Twentytwo’s Taken. At this stage Heath Hunter is an intended runner, while a decision on the participation of the others will be made later in the week. There is an excellent card to look forward to, including the valuable EBF novices’ hurdle final in which we have Skylander and Mount Haven engaged. For all the latest news on the stable runners and gossip from around the yard, don’t forget to keep up to date with Chester’s Daily Chat.

We are always keen to hear how former Pond House inmates are keeping and I was delighted to see both Potentate (a triple Welsh Champion Hurdle winner) and top class staying hurdler Deano’s Beeno looking so well on the Morning Line on Saturday. Meanwhile, I have seen images of Grands Crus enjoying himself in his second career as a show jumper and he too is looking fantastic. Indeed, you will have an opportunity to see ‘George’ in the flesh, parading at the Cheltenham Festival alongside the likes of Kauto Star and Denman on Tuesday 10th March.

I have already conducted the first of a number of Cheltenham Previews today and I am at the Saunton Sands Hotel, appearing on their panel this evening. With Exeter tomorrow night and Taunton on Friday evening, it is certainly looking like being a hectic week in the lead-up to the Festival. Meanwhile, we have legendary broadcaster Mike Vince paying us a visit tomorrow and he will be bringing us exclusive content for our website over the forthcoming week including interviews with myself and stable jockey Tom Scudamore…keep your eyes peeled for that, I hope you find it both interesting and enjoyable.

Finally, I must mention the ambitious fund raising plans of Richard Farquhar who from 20th March is planning on walking across mainland Britain and all sixty of the mainland racecourses in an unbroken chain that will cover 2,750 miles, all in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK and Racing Welfare. We would like to wish him every success with his journey and his fundraising – if you would like to find out more, or make a contribution you can do so by visiting: www.walkingthcourses.com or www.virginmoneygiving.com/walkingthecourses.