- Tuesday, 28 June 2011 08:10
- Written by David Pipe
Tomorrow morning I will be flying over to Paris to see the horses breeze-up ahead of the sales at Saint-Cloud. It was here that I picked up Grands Crus as an untried three year old in 2008 and I will be hoping to find another one like him this week. There will be a number of us present at the sales and also to sample a little of the Paris nightlife – hopefully the Beaujolais will not cloud our judgement!
On the home front new recruit My Brother Sylvest makes his debut for the yard at Stratford in a handicap hurdle. We have had him for a while now and he is an exciting first runner for us for part-owner Michael Owen. The Manchester United forward has been in the headlines lately with two Royal Ascot winners coming from his Manor House Stables (where former Pond House employee Tom Dascombe is in situ as resident trainer), including his own Brown Panther, that he also bred himself. It is fantastic to have Michael involved at Pond House and hopefully we will enjoy a successful association.
My 500th winner under rules, Bold Perk makes the long journey up to Scotland to participate at Perth on Wednesday. He ran another creditable race when runner-up at Uttoxeter on Sunday over hurdles and hopefully he will be able to return to winning ways. He is due to go up 20lbs to a new rating of 110 over fences which is obviously going to make his life a lot more difficult, so depending on how he is after his race on Wednesday, he might turn out again for the second day of the meeting.
We could have a couple more new recruits making their debuts for us later in the week as Alsalaal and Barton Stacey could take in the bumper at Worcester on Wednesday. They are both nice individuals and while Alsalaal has no previous experience, I picked up Barton Stacey from the sales following his victory in a course and distance bumper last month.
I will let you know how our French trip went next week and also of any gossip or new horses that will be joining our ranks.
Au revoir!
