Reset On A Roll

We were back among the winners again last week with Lady Reset (pictured above) continuing her memorable summer with a typically gutsy success at Warwick last Monday.  We are yet to get into full stride yet, with many of the winter horses still coming along in their preparations, but we have eleven winners on the board and a further four flat successes which is not a bad return considering the limited number of runners we have had until this point.

Reset On A Roll

Lady Reset was one of only three runners last week and she certainly got us off to the best possible start with a battling win in the 0-120 novices’ handicap hurdle at Warwick on Monday under stable jockey Tom Scudamore.  Always handy, she fought her way to the front in the straight, despite a slightly troubled passage and was nicely on top at the line.  This looked to be a competitive race for the grade and was clearly a personal best effort from our progressive mare who was winning for the fifth time this summer, taking her tally to three wins on the flat and two over timber this season.

Top of the ground is vitally important to Lady Reset and whilst she has been busy over the coming months, she will get a nice break once the ground softens up.

Iron Heart and Oneonechop were our only other runners last week, competing in the conditional jockeys’ race at Worcester on Wednesday.  Unfortunately, their chances were compromised by the excessive watering of the track, which led to the going riding much slower than the good ground advertised.  Both horses like top of the ground and were thus unable to show their best.  There will be other days for them.

The Week Ahead

Rain over the weekend means that we had two runners at Newton Abbot this afternoon.  Flammarion put up a very creditable performance to land the novices’ hurdle on his first start over timber for owners The Willpower Partnership, whilst Mr Tambourine Man produced a good performance when narrowly denied in the 2m5½f handicap hurdle.

Our next runners could well come on the all-weather at Lingfield on Thursday when Ocean Heights could make his debut for the stable in the 1m novices’ stakes.  We purchased him from the Doncaster Sales last month after winning a bumper at Stratford in June.

Other than that, we have a couple of entries at Fontwell on Saturday with Veiled Secret entered in the 3m2f conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle and ex-French recruit Itacare engaged in the 2m2f handicap chase.  A winner over fences at Auteuil, as a four year old, he is eligible to claim a useful age allowance.

Horses To Follow

Philip Armson is a name that not all of you will be familiar with, but the conditional jockey arrived at Pond House from Jackdaws Castle a couple of weeks ago and has already had his first ride for the team last week at Worcester, riding Oneonechop in the conditionals jockeys’ handicap hurdle at Worcester.  Broadcaster, Mike Vince caught up with him and spoke about his move and also managed to get a horse to follow for the season ahead.  You can view the latest edition of our popular series by clicking on the image below…

Happy Birthday

I don’t make a habit of birthday shout outs, but I would like to wish my old pal Ashley Farrant a very happy 50^th birthday for tomorrow (Tuesday).  Ashley was a very accomplished amateur jockey back in the day, riding plenty of winners under rules for my father and lots of winners for me whilst training point-to-pointers and was champion point-to-point rider.  These days, he is still an important start of the team, riding out every day and is regular partner to last season's Reynoldstown winner, Remastered.

On The Run

Finally, I would like to wish a couple of ladies the very best of luck this weekend.  Ali Galliers-Pratt, one of the assistants at Pond House will be competing in a World Series Sky Race on Sunday when she contests the Snowdon Skyline – a 24-mile race across the peninsula that will cover 3,000 metres of ascent and take 8-10 hours to complete.  This will give her some idea as to whether she would like to contest further races around tougher locations such as the Alps.

Jo Supple, Gerry’s better half will be contesting the rescheduled London marathon this weekend in aid of the Injured Jockeys’ Fund.  Jo, an accomplished rider is as fit as a flea and you will often see her running or riding her bike around the area.  She has already raised over £1,000 for this excellent cause and if you would like to support her, you can do so by visiting her Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jo-supple