- Monday, 20 June 2016 18:36
- Written by David Pipe
When it comes to writing my blog during the summer months there is always the danger that things begin to sound a little like deja-vu! Once again it looks as though it is going to be a quiet week with National Hunt fixtures rather thin on the ground. Nevertheless, we will have a few runners over the sticks, not least at the valuable meeting at Uttoxeter on Sunday, while we will also have a runner on the level at Salisbury on Wednesday.
Even though we did not have any runners in the Ascot Stakes on the Tuesday of the Royal meeting, I did make my annual trip to Royal Ascot for the first day of the meeting and had a wonderful time. The racing as usual was of the highest quality and I was privileged to witness the battle of the three Guineas winners and I thought Frankie Dettori gave winner Galileo Gold an excellent ride to prevail.
There were no shortage of memorable performances on the other days with the likes of Order Of St George a very impressive winner of the Gold Cup on Friday, while two year old filly Lady Aurelia left a lasting impression with her runaway success in the Queen Mary which was more than a couple of seconds quicker than the Kings Stand run over the same distance for older horses the day before.
The stable only had six runners during the course of the week, including one in the Ascot Gold Cup, so I was pleased to hit the mark with For ‘N’ Against in the novices’ handicap chase at Market Rasen on Friday. He had run a solid race when runner-up at Fontwell the week before and he was due to go up by 3lbs in future handicaps so it was good to see him take advantage when presented with a decent opportunity. Jumping well, he was given a positive ride by Tom Scudamore and he found plenty in the straight to score a shade tidily. Jumping is very much his forte and we will try to find something similar for him during the summer period.
Meanwhile on Sunday at Worcester Twentytwo’s Taken was in the process of running a big race when coming to grief at the fourth last hurdle. It is still too far out to know how she would have fared but she was still travelling well at the time so hopefully another race like this will be within her compass in the not-too-distant future. It was a nasty looking fall, but fortunately I am pleased to report that both she and jockey David Noonan seem none the worse for the experience.
Onto this week and the stable does not have runners this afternoon (Monday) at Southwell, although Willem will run tomorrow at Newton Abbot in the 2m5f handicap chase under Tom Scudamore. A reproduction of his debut chase effort when runner-up at Fakenham would give him every chance, although he is proving somewhat difficult to persuade to put his head in front. Blinkers are reapplied tomorrow in a bid to help him concentrate on the job in hand.
On Wednesday high class hurdler/chaser Dell’ Arca switches his attentions to the level as he has his first start on the flat since joining the Pond House team when he runs at Salisbury in the 1m6f handicap. He will get maximum assistance from the saddle as he will be ridden by former champion jockey and this year’s top Ascot rider, Ryan Moore. He is versatile with regard to ground, the trip should hold no fears for him and a mark of 78 means that he should prove an interesting contender. I very much look forward to seeing how he gets on.
There is a valuable meeting from Uttoxeter this Sunday which features the Summer Cup and we will certainly have a couple of runners there with both Ballynagour and recent course winner Katkeau intended runners at this stage. We also have Top Wood, Standing Ovation, Amigo and Cork Citizen engaged so we could end up with several runners in the race.
The midweek entries are still very much up in the air at present with the rather indifferent weather to start the British summer meaning the ground is quite different from course to course, as demonstrated by Newton Abbot currently giving their ground as good/soft, while Chepstow have been forced to abandon their flat fixture due to waterlogging! As usual we will keep an eye on the skies before deciding who runs where, although all the latest news can be found on Chester’s Daily Chat or you can follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.
