- Monday, 01 February 2016 16:47
- Written by David Pipe
A couple of winners on the week courtesy of Doctor Harper (pictured above) and Taj Badalandabad kept the scoreboard ticking over and at the time of writing our seasonal tally stands at 52. With Cheltenham Festival Trials day already in the rear view mirror, the focus now switches to the big event itself which is now only six weeks away. As you can tell from the countdown timer on the left-hand side of every one of my web pages, the entire season is geared towards the Cheltenham Festival which is to all intents and purposes the ‘Olympics of horseracing’.
Even so, there are plenty of races to be won between now and then (weather permitting!) although it is good to see the horses in decent form. Doctor Harper was our first runner of the week at Leicester last Tuesday and he put up a pleasing performance in the novices’ chase. The race was made somewhat easier by the defection of the morning favourite, although he could do little more than beat his two remaining rivals in decisive fashion. The most encouraging aspect of this performance was his measured and precise jumping – something that had not always been the case during his hurdling career. He should continue to improve with experience over the larger obstacles although whether he has already achieved more over fences than he did when winning a Grade Three hurdle at Aintree is highly debatable. He will most likely head to the Cheltenham Festival for one of the handicaps, although his target is anything but decided and he could run in the meantime at Sandown this weekend.
Taj Badalandabad (whose name derives from a character in the Van Wilder films I am told) was our other winner when landing the Pertemps handicap hurdle qualifier at Huntingdon on Friday. He had disappointed me on his seasonal debut when unplaced at Sandown in December over 2m5f so we thought it worth a try at the longer trip of three miles along with a change of headgear and tactics. He had finished placed in an Irish point-to-point prior to joining us, so there was a decent chance that he would appreciate the trip and so it proved. Held up under a well-judged ride from Tom Scudamore, he led between the last two and saw it out well to win a shade cosily. Unexposed over staying distances, this success opens up a whole host of options for him now and he can improve again.
The stable only had a couple of runners at Cheltenham at the weekend for Trials day, although they both performed with credit. Un Temps Pour Tout was saddled with top-weight in the 2m5f handicap chase and after getting outpaced, he was doing all his best work in the closing stages. He jumps fences well enough; although I think that it is fair to suggest that he is simply not as good over the larger obstacles at this stage of his career as he was over hurdles. Hopefully the handicapper will agree with these sentiments and give him a more realistic mark.
Champers On Ice contested a very hot novices’ hurdle and once again ran perfectly respectably. An error two from home certainly didn’t help his cause, although he did manage to get significantly closer to Shantou Village than when the pair met at the course in November. Neither could deal with Yanworth who was a most impressive winner and looks a worthy favourite for next month’s Neptune Hurdle.Champers On Ice is a lovely looking horse and will make a cracking chaser in time – in the meantime there are plenty of other races to be won with him over timber and he will now go for the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival.
While we are on the subject of the Cheltenham Festival, a number of the early closing races have already shut, including the championship events and some of the novices’ chases and we have several promising individuals among the line-ups. Un Temps Pour Tout has the option of switching back to timber for the World Hurdle where he is joined among the entries by Kings Palace and Red Sherlock.
Former winner Dynaste is among our three entries for the Ryanair Chase along with Kings Palace and Ballynagour, while Un Temps Pour Tout has further entries in the JLT novices’ chase over 2m4f as well as the RSA over three miles. We are also represented by thorough stayers Katkeau and Vieux Lion Rouge in the four mile National Hunt chase for amateur riders.
It is certainly a busy time of the year and tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be making further entries for the Festival as well as the Grand National. Don’t forget to check back next week to see who we have entered for the Aintree centrepiece in a bid to follow-up our success of 2008 with Comply Or Die.
Back to the present and we are represented by Carqalin in the bumper at Plumpton this afternoon – we bought him last year from the Arqana sales and he has pleased me at home. We have a good record at the track with bumper horses and I will be hoping that he can enhance that.
Tomorrow we run Master Red, Heath Hunter and Cork Citizen at Taunton while we will likely have some further runners at a couple of our other local tracks; Wincanton on Thursday and Chepstow on Friday - providing they beat the elements. In the meantime for all the latest news from the yard and stable runners, don’t forget to check Chester’s daily chat.
