- Monday, 15 June 2015 16:02
- Written by David Pipe
Following on from our spectacular success in France the previous weekend, it was down to earth somewhat with a handful of runners on the domestic front. We seemed to have a touch of thirditis (which I guess is even worse than that terrible plague, seconditis!) whereby five of our eight runners filled the third spot in the winners’ enclosure. Nonetheless a good victory from grand old campaigner Street Entertainer at Worcester punctuated this somewhat frustrating run and kept us at the top of the trainers’ standings for another week, albeit at this early stage.
As I say, Street Entertainer (pictured above) has become something of a favourite in the yard – he races regularly, seldom runs a bad race and is versatile with regard to trip, ground and code. Last Wednesday at Worcester he won the feature handicap hurdle over 2m4f under an inspired ride from Tom Scudamore despite the burden of topweight. Grasping the nettle when granted an uncontested early lead, he made every yard and jumped with aplomb to win unchallenged by five lengths from Cut The Corner. This rating of 129 is the highest mark he has won from and you can expect the handicapper to put him on an outright high mark come tomorrow (Tuesday) – not bad at the age of eight! As such he may well revert to the flat (where he has also scored for us), or alternatively he could try his hand over the larger obstacles – he has the size and scope for fences and jumping has always been one of his fortes so that should certainly stand him in good stead.
It was a busy morning today with the entries closing for the weekend at Hexham and Worcester, while there was also the small matter of another French entry at Auteuil. Ex-French recruit Willem has been a little disappointing since arriving on these shores despite on showing plenty of promise on occasions and so we thought it worthwhile trying him back on his ‘home soil’. Providing he gets in the 3900m handicap hurdle (and considering there were only 23 entries that has to be a distinct possibility), he could well make the trip across the Channel this week in a bid to revive his fortunes. Entries also close for the following fixture at Auteuil later this week, and we will be entering Dell’ Arca and Katkeau. Katkeau ran an absolute screamer at the track last month and the slightly longer trip certainly wouldn’t inconvenience him.
Talking of France, I picked up a nice three year old gelding from a claimer at Auteuil on Wednesday and was surprised to be almost knocked over in the rush of people wanting to buy him! Instagram was an impressive winner, jumping well and scoring decisively and I hope he will continue to improve when he arrives on these shores - he certainly looks like an interesting juvenile recruit. Of course, I have other horses with form for sale, details of which can be found here. Alternatively, if you wish to become an owner at Pond House and have something more specific in mind, we can buy to order and I am always available to have an informal, no obligation chat to discuss your requirements…simply call 01884 840715.
I am looking forward to the start of the Royal meeting from Ascot tomorrow and while we do not have any runners from Pond House this year, I will be attending nonetheless. I always attend on the Tuesday (no coincidence that the Ascot Stakes falls on that day!) and will be looking forward to going along once again. The atmosphere is unlike anywhere else I have ever experienced and I can’t wait to see some top class flat performers in action including Japanese superstar Able Friend.
The rest of the week isn’t looking quite so glamorous. Bella runs at Southwell this afternoon, and we will have a few others as the week progresses. Exciting novice chaser Vieux Lion Rouge has plenty of engagements over the coming days and he could well run should the ground be suitable, while Vayland is another with plenty of entries. Chester will be able to tell you more later in the week!
Finally, with the point-to-point season coming to a close at the weekend I would like to extend my congratulations to stable amateur David Noonan who became champion novice rider for the Devon & Cornwall area – congratulations on a fantastic achievement. He is a talented and sensible young rider with a bright future ahead of him.
