Tune In Tuesday!

With the sun continuing to beat down, it is perhaps a good job that the jumps programme is a little truncated at present. Having said that, with advances in technology and watering techniques the course officials have on the whole been doing an excellent job of providing a good, safe and consistent surface for these summer jumps fixtures to be held on. Even so, we only had a couple of runners over the sticks last week and it is looking like a similar story for the week ahead.

Near Misses

 I am pleased to have the string in good order and while we did not hit the mark last week, both of our runners performed with great credit. Chato made a promising debut for the stable at Uttoxeter on Tuesday when finishing third behind a progressive winner in the 2m7½f handicap hurdle. He certainly didn’t seem to have any stamina issues over this longer trip and he looks capable of winning something similar before too long and is already looking like a decent purchase. Indeed, he is entered up again this weekend at Newton Abbot in a 3m2½f handicap hurdle and he could take his chance there. Ilovethemints took another step forward with a good second in the 2m5½f handicap hurdle at Newton Abbot on Saturday. She hasn’t always been the most fluent of hurdlers but we have done plenty of work with her at home and I thought this was her best round of jumping yet. Consequently, this was her best performance yet, trying to concede 15lbs to the winner and she should certainly be going one better before too long. She is a likeable mare with a great attitude and she deserves to get her head in front.

The Week Ahead

 Looking to this week and it is likely to be another quite one with no jumps cards scheduled for Monday, Thursday or Friday. Ilovemints holds an entry at Worcester tomorrow although she will not go there. Timeforben has shown progressive form in winning two of her last three starts and she is engaged in the 2m7½f handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter on Wednesday. She is effective at the trip and is versatile with regard to ground. Druide Premier, a full-brother to Dynaste is also entered on the card in the bumper and he showed distinct promise on his debut at Newton Abbot. Kalifourchon is entered at Newton Abbot on Sunday in the 2m5f handicap chase and he is likely to go there, while the aforementioned Chato is also entered there. Take The High Road rounds off our entries for the week at Stratford on Sunday - he is engaged in the 2m2½f handicap hurdle. He is yet to run for the stable, but s I mentioned in last week’s blog, he is currently for sale and would make a good, fun horse for someone looking to get involved on a modest budget. As usual, for all the latest plans on runners and riders you can keep up to date with Chester’s Daily Chat or follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing

Was It Something I Said?

 Talking of Twitter, I had a bit of a shock when I logged in to my account this morning only to discover that I had lost 1,415 followers over the weekend. Was it something that I had said?! Fortunately I delved a bit deeper and found an explanation - the social media company have decided to get rid of followers with ‘locked’ accounts. It could have been worse however, with the likes of Katy Perry and Justin Bieber losing in excess of 2 million followers.

Tune In!

 Finally, we were joined a couple of weeks ago by a television production company that was filming at the stables for material for a programme called ‘Beach Live’ which is due to be shown tomorrow night (Tuesday 17th July) at 8pm on BBC4. Why would Pond House feature on a programme about the Jurassic Coast I hear you ask? Well, we have been working in conjunction with Dr Jan Knight of Knight Scientific on a test that can help monitor the welfare of the horses in our care. It has already been beneficial in monitoring the health of footballers at Plymouth Argyle football club and the test can be adapted to the racehorse. The key to these tests is the Common Piddock which is a mollusc found off the cost. It is a fascinating topic, so do tune in!

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