- Monday, 10 January 2011 16:46
- Written by David Pipe
Regarding jockey arrangements for the rest of the string, we will be using our strong team of in-house jockeys while using the services of the best available where necessary. While unfortunate for Tom, it is nonetheless a good opportunity for the lads in the yard to get themselves noticed.
I am pleased to report that the horses continue in great form and we have now had ten winners over the last twelve days including a treble and two doubles. It was a quiet start to the week (in fact we didn’t have any runners until Friday), but when we did we were immediately on the mark. Roi de Rose scored his first success in this country at Fontwell on only his second start for us - he was the winner of the Listed Grand Prix of Switzerland (their richest race) and has now been successful on four of his last five starts. Indeed, he provided his owners with their first win in England, following victories in Switzerland and Ireland, and I was particularly pleased for them as they are among some of the most enthusiastic that I know…if you do not believe me, you will find videos of Roi de Rose all over YouTube!
On Saturday Arrayan scored at Wincanton under Conor O’Farrell (who was riding his second winner in this country), before Our Father completed the across-the-card double at Chepstow. He made a very pleasing debut in what looked like a decent maiden hurdle, especially when you consider that he was bought very much with chasing in mind.
Sona Sasta continued our sparkling run with an impressive chasing debut success at Taunton this afternoon (Monday) under Danny Cook. The result never looked to be in any doubt, although hopefully the handicapper will not overreact to the eighteen lengths margin – I should give myself a pat on the back really for finding such a weak race for him to start off in!
Tomorrow will be a busy day with entries closing for one of the biggest handicap hurdles of the season, Newbury’s Totesport Trophy in which (among others) we will be entering last year’s runner-up Ronaldo des Mottes. Not only that, we will also be making entries for several of the Cheltenham Festival races including the Queen Mother Champion Chase. To find out what else we entered, check back with our daily news pages this week…
