- Monday, 18 November 2019 17:08
- Written by David Pipe
The recent weather has certainly spelt bad news for the racing industry with Stratford and Cheltenham having to call off fixtures last week. Even Fairyhouse in Ireland had to abandon due to waterlogging and take it from me, that takes some doing! Sadly, Cheltenham lost the first day of their prestigious November meeting on Friday and whilst two races were rescheduled between Saturday and Sunday’s cards there were some valuable races lost; races in which I had high hopes for our intended runners. We wanted the rain, but not that much!
Last week was a good one with Queens Cave’s Exeter success followed by a double at Cheltenham on Sunday.
I was very pleased by the victory of Queens Cave (pictured right) in the mares’ novices’ hurdle at Exeter on Wednesday. The race was the last one of the day and was run in almost pitch darkness and driving rain, but it did not stop our smashing mare from lighting up a dingy afternoon by scoring with authority. She never looked to be in any danger, making all of the running and coming home the only one with clean silks. Queens Cave’s owner, Kenny Alexander has been tremendously patient with her and this was due reward. I have always thought a lot of her and hope that she can go on from this and confirm that high opinion.
Cheltenham Double
The November meeting at Cheltenham is a fixture that we have usually excelled at and I was happy to be on the mark again with the successes of Duc de Beauchene and Israel Champ who bookended the Sunday card.
Duc de Beauchene was given a fine ride from young Jonjo O’Neill Jr in the 2m5f conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle. Despite being a little keen, he stuck on well in the straight and was firmly on top in the closing stages. He is only lightly raced and open to plenty of further improvement, whilst he would also benefit from a more strongly run race. Hopefully he can go on to better things for owner J P McManus. As you can see in the picture below, I was joined in the paddock with Jonjo Jr pre-race by former champions jockeys Sir Anthony McCoy and Charlie Swan so he is certainly getting the right sort of mentoring.
Israel Champ (pictured above) posted an impressive success in the Listed bumper to close the meeting on Sunday. Given a good, positive front running ride by Tom Scudamore, he quickened off the home turn and never looked like relinquishing the lead, beating a useful rival in Time Flies By. We have always liked him so it was fantastic to see him produce the form we know him to be capable of.
In between these successes, the horses continued to run well with Delface, Nordic Combined, Mrs Miggins, Eden du Houx and Warthog finishing placed. Nordic Combined has finished in the frame on a number of occasions without quite getting his head in front but deserves to win one and I have no doubt he will be winning sooner rather than later, whilst Warthog ran a huge race to finish third in the feature BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday. He put in an exhibition round of jumping under David Noonan to belie his odds – there should be a nice race in him this season.
The Week Ahead
Miss Tynte was our first runner of the week in the amateur riders’ handicap hurdle at Plumpton this afternoon (Monday), finishing fourth under Fergus Gillard. She continues to pay the price for her Worcester success earlier in the season having been put up a whopping 13lbs for that.
On Tuesday Fort Summer and Yaa Salaam both run at Lingfield for The Two Hopes Syndicate. Fort Summer contests the bumper having run creditably when third on his first start for the stable at Southwell last month, whilst Yaa Salaam, a good horse on the flat, runs in the novices’ hurdle. Over at Fakenham, Paricolor runs in the novices’ handicap hurdle and he would have gone close but for capsizing at the penultimate hurdle when in with every chance. Fergus Gillard takes the ride and claims a handy 7lbs off his back.
Into The Woods and Queen Adelaide hold entries at Wincanton on Thursday and we are likely to have a runner or two there.
There is a good card at Haydock on Saturday with the Betfair Chase the obvious highlight. We do not have anything for that race this year, although Umbrigado is entered in the valuable Grade 3 Stayers’ handicap hurdle earlier on the card. He was a most promising novice hurdler last season and has been installed by bookmakers as the ante-post favourite…I hope they are right!
A Name To Remember
My father was very pleased to be introduced to trainer Tim Vaughan’s twelve year old son Ed (pictured left), who was successful in one of the pony races that took place at Cheltenham before racing on Sunday. Ed won aboard his 14.2hh pony called White Water who incredibly is a son of super-sire Galileo and related to a whole host of big race winning thoroughbreds. Ed is the youngest rider to win the Dingle Derby and is a name you are sure to be hearing more of in the future, although it won’t be on the flat as he already tips the scales at 7st1lb.
Famous Colours
As you may have read in my last column, I have just launched the David Pipe Racing Club with the aim of bringing the benefits of racehorse ownership at a fraction of the normal cost. Indeed, we had our first runner at Taunton on Thursday and whilst we did not trouble the judge on this occasion it was fantastic to see the famous colours back on the track again. The club could have another runner this week with Great Tempo entered in a couple of races at Ffos Las on Friday.
Some of you may recall the black and white colours donned by the jockeys who rode for the inaugural Pipe/Scudamore Racing and Martin Pipe Racing Clubs. They were worn to well over 200 successes and it would be great if we could add a few more to that tally.
We have four horses in the club at present and are planning to increase that number as membership grows. At only £100 for a year’s subscription and it would be an ideal birthday or Christmas present to the racing enthusiast of the household. Further details can be found by clicking here.
