Trio of Winners

    Ramses De Teille Winner at Chepstow

I wrote last week’s offering on route to London for the Horse Writer’s Awards.  Gerry Supple and I had a very enjoyable afternoon as guests of Mike Vince and there were some very worthy winners. Our runners at Plumpton that day also kicked off what has been a good week for the stable. Dusky Hercules has improved with each of his three career starts and made an encouraging debut over hurdles to finish fourth. The penny is slowly dropping and he has shown enough that he is capable of winning races. Duc De Beauchene bounced back from a disappointing effort last time to finish a staying on fourth.  It was then great to be able to toast a winner from London. Eden Du Houx had won his sole start in an Irish point to point and put in a nice performance to win the bumper under Tom Scu.  He had been pleasing me at home and it was nice to see him do it on the track. I won this bumper a few years ago with Kings Palace and although a different type of horse I hope this horse has a very bright future also.

     Eden Du Houx Winner at Plumpton

Dauphine Ereine ran much better at Ludlow on Tuesday. Tom Scu thought she did not quite stay the 3m1f trip so we will drop her back in distance next time and ride her the same way.  Ekayburg was slightly disappointing at Leicester on Thursday but the small field and slow pace did not really suit. He has a lot of ability but we haven’t quite found the key to him on the racecourse as yet. There is plenty more to come from him. Miro ran well to finish third at Leicester and has shown enough in two starts for the yard that he can pick up a little race for us soon. 

Winning warthog

         Warthog Winner at Sandown

On Friday Malangen finished fourth at Sandown but the star for the stable was Warthog. In a race full of plenty of mishaps for other runners, he and David Noonan  showed a great front display of running and jumping to lead the field a merry dance an win his first start over fences. He was lucky to avoid being carried out by a loose horse by the pond fence on the first circuit but thankfully he had a pretty clear passage after this. It is not often I would send a first time chaser to Sandown as it is a tricky track to jump round but this fella has been schooling so well at home I was pretty confident he would be okay and it was the right race. Our six year old had a few niggling problems last season and we didn’t see the best of him but due to his size and scope he was always going to be a better chaser. This will have done his confidence the world of good and hopefully he can build on this.

Remastered and Eamon An Cnoic did not run up to expectations at Exeter while Jasmin Des Bordes ran a race full of promise to finish second in the bumper. He ran a little green but galloped all the way to the line and should have no trouble in winning something similar. 

Heart of a lion

On Saturday Vieux lion Rouge returned to his beloved Grand National fences at Aintree in the Becher chase. Having dropped in the handicap a few pounds, he was working well at home I was quietly confident of a big run and he did not disappoint. Having said this, at about half way through the race I was a little worried!!  He was towards the rear of the field and seemingly not travelling that well but all he did was stay on past horses all the way to the line and finished a closing second to Walk On The Mill. Although always naturally gutting to finish in the runner up position it was great to see him return to somewhere near his best and it was a fantastic effort.   Although he has failed to quite see out the 4 miles in the Grand National in previous attempts on this evidence he looks like he may now need it!! All being well he will be back in April to run in the Grand National once again. I must say well done to Robert Walford and his team and jockey James best on their victory. They came to Pond House recently to school over our national fences and this obviously helped!! 

Welsh national trial

Ramses de Teillee was a great winner at Chepstow on Saturday with David Noonan on board. This was the Welsh national trial and he now could head for the Welsh National itself on 27th December.  A decision will be made a bit closer to the time about whether he takes will take his chance.  He is now three from three over fences at the course and fingers crossed he can put up a bold show in the big feature at the end of the month. He is a fantastic jumper who loves soft ground and can gallop all day so he ticks a lot of boxes but it will require a career best effort. 

Great british racing

Last Tuesday we welcomed Billy Nixon from Great British Racing and Hamish Mitchell from BBC Spotlight. They filmed a piece at the yard about what it is like to work in a racing yard at Christmas. I am unsure when it will be shown as yet but we will try and let you know when it will be on as it should be a good watch. 

Looking ahead 

Looking ahead this week we have two runners, Eur Gone West and Three Star General at Uttoxeter tomorrow.  On Wednesday Know the Score is likely to head to Hexham for the novice hurdle while we probably have runners also at Leicester and at Lingfield on the flat.  Both Aldrin and Mutanaqel are declared to run in the first race at 11.40am.  Luke Morris is on board Aldrin, who was a winner last time out over hurdles at Market Rasen and Mutunaqel who is partnered by Finley Marsh.  Both horses do not want too soft a ground which is why they are both having a run on the all-weather rather than over hurdles at the moment. On Thursday we have entries at Taunton and Warwick while we have nothing at Cheltenham this time round.  Over the weekend we have entries at Doncaster, Hereford, Carlisle and Southwell so keep checking Chester’s daily blog for more up to date news on the stable’s runners.