- Tuesday, 07 July 2015 09:58
- Written by David Pipe
It is that time of the year again when the jumping program becomes increasingly fragmented. With four days between jumps fixtures from Wednesday of this week and another four days without National Hunt racing next (not to mention a full week in August) it is all very stop-start. I have mentioned it before and I am sure I will mention it again - for the life of me I still can’t see why these blank days are not grouped together in order to give the horses, jockeys and staff alike a little bit of a break.
Our only runners last week came at Worcester on Wednesday and I thought that Lady Of Longstone ran a cracker to finish runner-up in the 2m7f novices’ handicap hurdle. She bumped into a very well handicapped rival on this occasion and in coming ten lengths clear of the remainder under top weight she was recording a personal best. She is capable in her grade and provided she isn’t clobbered by the assessor she can continue to be competitive in this type of race.
Onto this week and the stable enjoyed a winner last night (Monday) when three year old Beijing Star won on his second start for the yard. Partnered by Mikey Ennis (who was aboard our 2013 Midlands National winner Big Occasion) he travelled well through the race and saw out this longer trip in good style. Meanwhile over at Worcester, Dusk Till Dawn made his debut for the yard in the bumper – this former Irish point-to-point winner was having only his third ever start and was still showing signs of inexperience. He looks like a nice staying chaser in the making and I am thrilled to have a runner for owner Michael Poland whose famous colours have been carried by so many good flat horses down the years, not least former Racing Post Trophy winner and sire of Dusk Till Dawn, King’s Theatre.
Bella, who won the valuable mares’ race at Warwick earlier in the season runs tonight (Tuesday) in the mares’ handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter and will be partnered by Tom Scudamore. She disappointed last time, although the form of her previous win has been franked several times and gives hope of a better performance. Even so, following her Warwick success, she owes nobody anything.
I made yet another trip across the Channel to France last week to attend the Arqana Sales at Deauville. It is a fixture that I have always looked forward to as we have enjoyed great success with graduates of these sales – the likes of Dynaste, Grands Crus, Gevrey Chambertin, Dell’ Arca and Vieux Lion Rouge to name but a few. This year I picked up a couple of grey sons of Martaline (sire of Dynaste) – one an unraced three year old with bags of potential, another a four year old (Honeymoon Cocktail pictured above) with proven flat form at a decent level. They are both nice types who look likely to be well-suited to the jumping game and are currently looking for owners…if you are interested, further details can be found on our Horses For Sale page.
The Racing Post have been running a great series of articles about gambles that have gone astray and with Wimbledon concluding this week, it did remind me of one of my father’s failed coups from years ago. Although we can’t find any proof to substantiate it, my father recalls that he had £700 on Australian legend Rod Laver to win the title at 4/7 only for him to break his arm and have to retire…talk about unlucky! MCP was shocked and totally devastated and to this day it remains the last bet he has had on the tennis. Perhaps the Andy Murray team would like to get in touch if they would like him to back one of his rivals?!
I couldn’t finish this week without offering my condolences to the connections of Kauto Star after the sad news of his demise. Kauto Star was an incredible horse who I was privileged to see in action on numerous occasions on the racecourse. He set the benchmark to aim at and I enjoyed competing against him – indeed, he was instrumental when providing me with one of the proudest moments of my career when Our Vic just denied him in the 2008 Totesport Bowl at Aintree’s Grand National meeting. A legend of our sport, he will be very much missed.
