Horses To Follow Returns

Following on from three hectic days where we hosted owners, racing club members and National Racehorse Week visitors to Pond House, the staff were relieved that it was a quiet week on the runner front, with only one runner last Monday.  That alters this week with a few more runners on the horizon; the first of those comes today at Warwick in the shape of Lady Reset (pictured above).

Reset Reverts To Hurdles

It is largely due to the prevailing quick ground at the majority of the tracks that we are a little quiet at present, although that is not the case with Lady Reset who is thriving at present.  She runs this afternoon at Warwick in the 2m novices’ handicap hurdle.  A winner four times this summer (three times on the level and once over hurdles), she loves top of the ground and produced a career best when scoring in good style at Sandown on the flat ten days ago.

She was a winner last time out over hurdles at Stratford, showing great tenacity to get the better of a prolonged battle in the home straight and looks sure to go well again from a mark only 1lb higher.  She has been a real star for owners Keith and Lynne Webb and will be kept on the go whilst underfoot conditions to continue to be in her favour and she continues to thrive.

We could head north to Perth on Thursday where the ground is considerably softer.  Itacare, an ex-French recruit that we purchased after winning an Auteuil chase in April, is engaged in the 2m4f novices’ handicap chase.  As an experienced four year old he would be in receipt of a handy age allowance that sees him at the foot of the weights.  The soft ground should suit him well and we will take a look at the race tomorrow morning before deciding up on his participation.

Flammarion is also entered at the Scottish track in the novices’ hurdle.  The winner of a bumper, he is yet to run over hurdles, although he has pleased me at home with his schooling.  He finished an encouraging second on the level on his first start for the Pond House team and I hope he can build on that.  This looks quite a competitive race on paper so again, we will check the opposition before committing.

On Friday Iron Heart and Oneonechop hold entries in the 2m handicap hurdle.  Both have a preference for top of the ground which they should get here.  Being a juvenile, Oneonechop would receive a very useful 18lbs allowance and is a likely runner.

Retirement of Danny Cook

I was sorry to learn of the retirement of jockey Danny Cook last week.  His decision to hang up his saddle comes as a consequence of a bad fall last October, which caused serious facial injuries including a broken eye socket, whilst also having an adverse effect on his vision.

Danny joined us at Pond House early in his career, riding as an amateur before turning conditional with a good deal of success.  During his time with us, he enjoyed big race success aboard legendary veteran Our Vic in the 2010 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby in the colours of the late David Johnson and followed that up with success at the Cheltenham Festival a couple of months later when victorious aboard Great Endeavour in the Byrne Group Chase.

Since leaving and heading up north he continued to make great strides as a rider and won numerous big races, including three more victories in the Peter Marsh.

Horses To Follow

Finally, a popular feature each year is the annual staff interviews where we ask the team at Pond House to nominate a horse to follow.  Legendary broadcaster Mike Vince has kindly given his time and expertise to help us with the project this year and we will be featuring these interviews over the coming weeks.  As you will no doubt already be aware, some of the judges are considerably better than others…I will leave you to decide who is who!

We will start out with stable jockey Tom Scudamore who hedged his bets by cramming in as many names as he could within the space of two minutes.  It was a bit like The Generation Game…cuddly toy anyone?!  Click on the image below to view...

Julie Bellamy, a long serving staff member of 34 years spoke with broadcaster Mike Vince about her forthcoming ride in a Wincanton charity race next month and also nominated a horse to follow for the season ahead.  You can see her interview by clicking the image below...

If you would like to contribute to Julie's fundraising in aid of the excellent Racing Welfare charity, you can do so by visiting her Just Giving page, link below:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/juliebellamyracingwelfarecharityracewincanton24oct2021