- Monday, 26 October 2015 16:33
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Another week, another success from improving mare Lady Of Longstone. It is amazing how every now and again a mare can just suddenly improve out of all recognition with very little obvious reason why. Not that I am complaining of course…not only are the owners lovely people, Sue is an extremely good cook and allows the staff to celebrate along with them with some of her sumptuous home-made cakes! The lemon drizzle cake in particular is a triumph and it is hardly any wonder that Lady Of Longstone is quickly becoming one of the favourite horses in the yard!
I hate to blow my own trumpet, but Lady Of Longstone was a very good buy from the Tattersalls (Ireland) Sales where I picked her up very reasonably. Since then she has won four times, finished runner-up on a further four occasions and filled the minor placings on several other occasions. Last Wednesday at Worcester was certainly a personal best however, running from a career mark of 104 on ground softer than I thought was ideal, she proceeded to bolt up under Michael Heard to land the mares’ handicap hurdle by a hard held 15 lengths. I would imagine she is due a hefty rise for this latest success so she will probably go to Uttoxeter on Friday for another mares’ handicap, for which she will shoulder a 7lbs penalty. This will be tougher again, but it makes sense to make hay while she is on such good terms with herself.
Talking of good buys, it is the Newmarket Horses In Training Sales this week and as usual I have been doing plenty of work on the catalogue. If you are interested in joining the ranks of owner at Pond House, please do feel free to contact me for a no obligation chat about your requirements. We have an excellent record of finding the right horse for the right sort of money and with the jumps season just getting into gear it would be the ideal opportunity to get involved.
I have already alluded to the excellent form of our mare Lady Of Longstone but she is not the only female to be excelling at Pond House at present. It was great to be back at Cheltenham for the first meeting of the new season on Friday and Weather Babe ran a cracker to finish a close second in the 3 mile novices’ chase under Conor O’Farrell. She has always been a tough, likeable mare and she had done well to win both of her races since switching to the larger obstacles although this was by far her toughest test. Even so, she acquitted herself very well and despite looking to be struggling some way out, she stuck to her task really well to lead in the straight until halfway up the run-in when she began prick her ears and idle in front only to be caught close home. She is clearly well up to this grade and can continue to improve and be competitive especially against her own sex.
While it is great to be back at Cheltenham for the new season it is traditionally at the Paddy Power Open meeting in November that we start to bring out the big guns. Indeed, entries for the centrepiece of that fixture, the Paddy Power Gold Cup close tomorrow and I anticipate being well represented there in a bid to add to the previous success of Great Endeavour. Among my entries will be Kings Palace, Monetaire and La Vaticane and in any ordinary year any one of them would be a legitimate contender. If you aren’t in it, you cannot win it so we will keep our options open and our final line-up will not be decided until the days leading up to the race. Each of them has been pleasing me at home and I am very much looking forward to next month’s meeting.
I had a few apprehensive moments earlier in the week as our Champion Bumper winner Moon Racer was schooled over hurdles for the first time. However, I was very pleased with him and while he will clearly need more practice this was a good starting point and he remains an exciting prospect when sent hurdling.
That is all to look forward to and while we are looking ahead, the latest in our series of staff video interviews features the resident court jester and tipster, Chester Barnes. Chester has played it cannily by giving himself three chances for the coming campaign – you can see what he has to say by viewing the video below…
In the shorter term, it is going to be a quiet start to the week with the first possible runners coming from Pond House on Friday. Exciting Punchestown bumper winner Champers On Ice is engaged at Wetherby and Uttoxeter on Friday and Carlisle on Sunday, while Dynaste could run in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby on Saturday or even travel across to Down Royal on the same day. Meanwhile Prix la Barka winner Ballynagour holds an engagement in the Charlie Hall and the West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby. With many of the Pond House stars nearing a run, it is certainly a very exciting time of the season and you can keep up to date with all the latest news by visiting Chester’s Daily Chat or following us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.
