- Monday, 19 December 2016 16:59
- Written by David Pipe
With Christmas coming this weekend we are on a short week racing-wise with the last action before the big day coming on Thursday. That is not to say that we will be taking it easy however as the horses still need to be fed and exercised so it will be a normal working week right up until Christmas day when a skeleton staff will be on hand to make sure that all of the essential tasks are carried out – for their help I am extremely grateful.
Hurdling debutant Work was an unlucky loser of the juvenile maiden hurdle at Ffos Las on Monday when unshipping Tom Scudamore at the penultimate flight when still going nicely upsides in front. A progressive filly who won twice on the flat before joining the stable, she showed more than enough ability here to suggest that she will be more than capable of winning something similar before too long. At almost 16.3hh she is well-made with plenty of size and scope for the future. Furthermore, we still have a 25% share available in her and that could prove good value at £9,000+VAT (+training fees) – if you have any interest, do get in touch with my office.
We did manage to get on the scoreboard for the week with the success of Eamon An Cnoic (pictured above) at Haydock on Saturday as he ran out a ready winner of the 1m7½f handicap hurdle under conditional jockey David Noonan. It was tricky to see an awful lot owing to the difficult viewing conditions although he appeared to put the race to bed nicely before idling late on. A point-to-point winner over three miles in Ireland, it is encouraging to see him performing so well over the minimum distance with the promise of further improvement when faced with a stiffer test. He is a progressive young hurdler who should go on to better things.
Later on the card Batavir performed with credit in the staying handicap hurdle, finishing a close third. This was his first start back over timber having failed to shine on his chase debut previously. Even so, he schools well over fences at home and could well be back over the larger obstacles at some stage. Over at Ascot I thought that Un Temps Pour Tout ran a good race to claim third in the Grade One Long Walk Hurdle behind Unowhatimeanharry. Having looked to be outpaced from halfway down the back straight, it was pleasing to see him stick to his task well to pass a number of his rivals in the straight and claim some decent prize money in the process.
Although we were in the winners’ enclosure, I must express my concerns about whether racing should have been allowed to go ahead on Saturday owing to the very poor visibility because of the dense fog. Ascot and Lingfield were bad, while Haydock was worse – so much so that come the last race there was deliberation before the race result was called and no official distances were given. At that point does that not pose an unacceptable risk to horses, jockeys and those people working on the course? I understand that the courses do not want to lose the fixtures (or revenue) but at what cost?
Looking to this week, we have one runner this afternoon as Mango Cap makes the long journey up to Ayr for the three mile handicap hurdle, while Vincent’s Forever, Ramses de Teille, Sweet Tooth Tommy and Port Navas all run at Taunton tomorrow. Ramses de Teillee will be making his first start for the stable having shown decent form when winning a point-to-point in Ireland. We have several entries for the remainder of the week at Ffos Las and Ludlow on Wednesday and Bangor on Thursday – which ones run will be decided by the usual routine tests.
Congratulations to show jumping ace Nick Skelton who finished third in the Sports Personality of the Year Awards last night (Sunday)…a fantastic achievement, especially given the amount of coverage (or lack thereof) that equestrian events receive.
Finally, I would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. I will be back with my next blog on Boxing Day.
