Winners Flowing

        Jet Smart - New Horse For Sale

The good form of the yard continues and I am delighted to have recorded a further six wins since writing last Monday!  Mr Tambourine Man was the first winner of the week at Exeter last Tuesday.  He was returning from a mini break after not enjoying the winter ground in his previous runs and he bounced right back to form on the better going.  This was his first victory since coming over from Ireland and hopefully he can build on this going forward.  He is by the mighty Galileo and could have a few runs on the flat as well over the summer.  It was great for his local owners, Brian and Sue Middleton as they have been very patient with him.

FIRST TREBLE

Last Thursday we had the first stable treble of the season with two winners at Taunton and one at Ffos Las.  Kolisi followed up his Hereford win on the Sunday with perhaps a more impressive display under a penalty at Taunton.  Tom Scu gave him a very confident ride and took it up at the last and he won with his ears pricked once again.  The plan is for him to run at Exeter on Thursday evening and although life will be tougher under a double penalty there should be more improvement to come.

Red Happy followed up his Wincanton success by winning again at Taunton under Philip Armson under a penalty.  The slight drop back in trip did not inconvenience him and he won quite comfortably in the end despite a couple of jumping errors late on.  He seems to have really appreciated the drying ground of late and there should be more to come from this five year old.

Just a few minutes later over at Ffos Las, Abaya Du Mathan got his first deserved victory in this country under Fergus Gillard.  Runner up to stable mate Red Happy at Wincanton on his previous start, he was five pounds ahead of his mark in this race and duly obliged.  It helped that a couple of his rivals departed the race early but he did it nicely in the end he is another who seems to be enjoying the better ground.  Both he and Red Happy are entered at Exeter at the end of this week but we will see what the handicapper does on Tuesday morning before deciding if either run.

SUNDAY DOUBLE

On Sunday we had a nice across the card double at Wincanton and Stratford.  Neon Moon won for the third time over hurdles this season with a nice performance in the 2m5f handicap hurdle.  His form can be a little in and out but his career record is now four wins from eight starts over hurdles so we certainly would like a few more horses who have a 50% strike rate!  He seems to appreciate the better going as well so will be kept on the go for now and may even run over fences before having his summer holiday.

Morgenstern got his first deserved victory over fences and first win in England since coming from France at Stratford on Sunday under Philip Armson.  He has been very consistent of late so it was nice he was able to get his head in front.  He is a really tough little horse who doesn’t mind what the going is so am sure will continue to give us plenty of fun in the coming months.

GRAND NATIONAL

Romain De Senam ran a cracker in the big race, the Grand National on Saturday to finish tenth.  He has always been a high class horse and was bought with this race in mind last summer.  This season he has had a couple of set-backs which have held us up and prevented us from running until he made his stable debut in the Midlands National at Uttoxeter.  He had to run by this date to be qualified for the National.  It looked like he was just going to miss out on getting a run in the big race, having been third reserve after declarations for the race on Thursday morning.   He travelled to Aintree on Friday morning to run in the Topham, over the National fences later that day.  There is a 1pm deadline on the Friday for which if there are non-runners in the National then the reserves get a run.  It is highly unusual for this to happen, for one to come out, let alone three non-runners but it did!  Romain De Senam took to the fences really well and travelled strongly before perhaps not seeing out the trip and getting a little tired.  It was jockey, Philip Armson’s first ride in the race and he gave Romain a lovely ride and they both had a terrific experience and have come back safe and well which is the main thing.  An interesting stat I did hear is that by Romain De Senam getting in to the National it has meant that Pond House has had a runner in every Grand National race since 1989!

Via Dolorosa also ran a good race over the National Fences in the Topham on Friday.  He seems to really enjoy these fences and Tom Scu had a super run round before he got tired at the end when the exertions of the Scottish National just six days earlier probably took its toll.

An interesting point to note is that how well the horses that came to Pond House to school over our Grand National fences got on in their respective races.  Santini, Fiddlerontheroof, Lostintranslation, and Romain De Senam all completed the Grand National course while Via Dolorosa and the Christian Williams trained Five Star Getaway both finished in the Topham. 

I must of course congratulate winners of the big race, Nobel Yeates, the Waley-Cohen family and trainer Emmet Mullins.  The Waley-Cohens have had plenty of success over the years but they invest so much into National Hunt Racing and I was delighted for them.  What a way to retire and what a feel-good story for racing.

ITV – AGAINST ALL ODDS

Talking of feel-good stories, there is a programme you all have to watch tonight on ITV (Monday evening), the latest episode of the Against All Odds Series which tonight features Captain Guy Disney.  I won’t spoil the story for those of you who may not know it but Guy is the first amputee jockey to have got a licence to ride and he of course went on two win some very prestigious races on our very own Rathlin Rose.  The TV cameras came to Pond House to film me for a tiny part of the show but it is all of course about Guy and his amazing journey.

HORSE FOR SALE

Leanne and I were up at Aintree for all three days and went to the sale after racing on Thursday.  We managed to acquire a lovely four year old by Jetaway called JET SMART.  He finished second in a competitive Irish point to point at Lisronagh on his only start to date.  He was only just beaten by a horse called Act of Authority who sold for £200,000 and we purchased this chap for £80,000 so he looks to be very good value.  He is looking for an owner so if you are interested please do get in touch for more details.   

EDEN DU HOUX

We have our first runner in France for a while this afternoon at Compiegne.  Eden Du Houx needs soft ground and so we have taken him over there to run in a hurdle race with Alain De Chitray on board.  Today is more of a fact finding mission so fingers crossed he can run well and we may go back to France more times in the coming weeks. 

THIS WEEK

Our first runner of this week is Koi Dodville at Cheltenham on Wednesday and Panic Attack is likely to run at the same track on Thursday.  Kolisi will run at Exeter on Thursday but keep checking the Daily Blog for more news of the stable runners.