- Monday, 12 October 2015 15:25
- Written by David Pipe
Unfortunately a high profile weekend for the stable did not yield any winners although in a couple of cases it was just nice to have the horses back on the racecourse and returning in one piece. In those instances I refer of course to the likes of The Liquidator and Dynaste, while in the other cases there will simply just be plenty of better times ahead.
It was certainly a busy weekend for the stable with runners at Newmarket for the Cesarewitch and Chepstow for their two day jumps festival on Saturday, while on Sunday we had runners in three countries with representatives in Wales, Ireland and France. The logistics of sending horses to all of these different locations within such a short space of time certainly takes some organising.
Low Key was sent off favourite for the Cesarewitch on Saturday and understandably so given the manner of his victory in the trial over course and distance the previous month. Having been held up in mid division he began to make a promising move under apprentice jockey Tom Marquand to hold every chance three furlongs from home only for his run to peter out. Unfortunately the impressive finish he displayed last time was missing on this occasion with the combination of a slightly higher mark and stronger race finding him out. I would imagine that he will be given a little rest before we look at returning to hurdles with him.
Over at Chepstow they held their new two day jumps fixture with some excellent prize money up for grabs and it was here that The Liquidator made his much awaited seasonal reappearance in the ultra-competitive Silver Trophy handicap hurdle. He jumped and travelled well for much of the journey before tiring in the straight – he is certainly entitled to come on for this first start in eighteen months and there will be other days for him.
I was pleased to get Dynaste’s first run of the season into him in the 2m3½f Grade 3 hurdle at Auteuil on Sunday and while he didn’t finish in the money, his finishing position did not tell of the troubled passage he endured. Indeed, he was seen at his athletic best to jump a stricken horse that fell directly in front of him – Dynaste was quite badly impeded and was always just on the back foot and struggling from thereafter. He stayed on quite nicely in the straight to finish ninth, beaten less than 10 lengths. At this stage I am just pleased to have him back on the track and this outing will bring him on ahead of his next start which could be at Down Royal at the end of the month or in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby before being aimed at the usual targets such as the Betfair Chase at Haydock and the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Our runner at The Curragh in the Irish Cesarewitch, Alternatif was far from disgraced on this first start on the flat in over 800 days. Staying on at the finish, he was beaten only 7½ lengths under Colm O’Donoghue and I would imagine that we will look to revert to fences with him now.
The stable has no runners this afternoon (Monday), although we will have runners on the flat and over the sticks tomorrow. Honeymoon Cocktail takes his chance at Wolverhampton on the level tomorrow evening and will be partnered by Mikey Ennis, while Spending Time (a winner last time out at Stratford) and Impulsive American do duty at Huntingdon and are both partnered by stable jockey Tom Scudamore.
We have plenty of entries later in the week, including at Wincanton on Friday where they host their first meeting of the new season. As usual they will be pulling out all the stops to mark the new campaign and I will be among those parading horses and conducting interviews at the track. This year French Champion Hurdle winner Un Temps Pour Tout and Bidourey will be parading from Pond House and I am sure there will be plenty of other star quality on display from the other local trainers. It should be an enjoyable afternoon so do try to go along if you are in the area.
This afternoon we welcome Racing Post correspondent Ben Newton ahead of this year’s ever popular Jumps Stable Tour. Ben comes down at this time each year and it is always good to have a catch up. The feature will be appearing in the Post shortly and I will be doing my best to steer you in the direction of a winner or two so do keep an eye out…
