Passing Of The Queen

Last week racing lost its greatest patron with the very sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  It is well known that the Queen had long adored her horses and her staunch support of the industry will be impossible to replace.  Not only was she a keen racegoer, first attending Royal Ascot in 1946 and every year until finally unable this year, she was a very shrewd breeder, whilst her colours were carried to many a famous victory on the flat and over jumps.  Things will never be the same again and the world as well as the entire racing community will continue to mourn her loss.

Aside from receiving his CBE, my father met the Queen at Windsor Castle some years ago and he often recounts the tale of being seated next to Her Majesty.  He was typically well organised for the big occasion and took a ‘cheat sheet’ with him with various facts and statistics on it, including how he had won eleven races in a single season with a horse she had bred, the tough as teak filly, Hopscotch.  Her Majesty was fascinated by this and asked if she could have the sheet, popping it into her handbag and leaving him completely unprepared.  Fortunately my dad’s memory recall has always been pretty good (sometimes too good for my liking!) but in The Queen, he had certainly met someone at least as knowledgeable.

I hope that King Charles III will continue his mother’s legacy and the Royal Family’s interest.  Camilla, the Queen Consort is a patron of the Ebony Horse Club, for whom we enjoyed success last season with Grangeclare Glory.

Uttoxeter Double

Although we only had six runners last week, those runners yielded a further two wins and a second place, taking our tally for the season to 27.  It has been a great summer for the yard and everyone is very excited for the winter ahead.

The two winners actually came on the same card at Uttoxeter on Wednesday.  El Paso Wood (pictured right) followed-up his Stratford success of the previous week with an even more convincing success in the 3m2f handicap chase.  Competing under the welter burden of 12-4, he came away in the closing stages under Tom Scudamore.  He jumps and stays really well and will likely be competing in the local ‘National’s’ later in the season.

Ladykiller completed the double when a ready winner of the 2m7f novices’ handicap hurdle.  Stepping up to this sort of distance for the first time, he was always travelling powerfully under Tom Scu and found enough when asked to score a shade comfortably.  He has always possessed plenty of ability, as demonstrated by his good flat form, although he does have his quirks.  With this win under his belt, I hope that he can now progress.

Earlier in the week, Umbrigado had produced a very satisfactory seasonal debut in the 3m2f handicap hurdle at Newton Abbot on Monday.  He travelled well for much of the race, but could not quite match the pace of the winner in the closing stages – not really surprising given that he was trying to concede 33lbs.  He would be ideally suited by more cut in the ground and is likely to mix hurdling and chasing for the season ahead and should be winning more races.

The Week Ahead

Looking to the week ahead and we start with Ladykiller at Worcester this afternoon (Monday).  He carries a penalty for last week’s success, but is still 2lbs ahead of the handicapper so would appear to have decent claims once again.

Tomorrow we have two runners at Uttoxeter, Red Happy and Lady Reset.  The former contests the 2m6f handicap chase and he comes here in good form following a promising run over hurdles and is only 3lbs higher than when scoring over fences on his penultimate start.

Lady Reset goes in the 2m mares’ handicap hurdle.  As tough and game as they come, she is sure to run her usual honest race and Philip Armson will take the ride, taking a handy 5lbs off her back.

With only a card from Kelso on Wednesday and no jumping at all on Thursday, that will be all of our runners until Friday when we will be at Newton Abbot.  d’Jango, already twice a winner this season, is a likely runner in the staying handicap chase, whilst Ben Lilly, Nordic Combined, Kolisi, Ya Know Yaseff and Kolisi also feature among the entries.  We will decide on their participation a little later in the week.

Entries for Plumpton on Sunday close today and we intend to run recent Goodwood winner, Borntobealeader in the juvenile hurdle.

National Racehorse Week

National Racehorse Week is officially upon us and we will be flinging open the doors to Pond House this weekend so that people can get a look at the hard work that goes on behind the scenes in preparing the horses for the racecourse.

We will also be hosting members of the David Pipe Racing Club and I am looking forward to seeing everybody.  The club is a great, fun way of getting involved in racing without having the large outlay.  Members are able to apply to go racing when the club has a runner, receive regular updates and bulletins, a monthly in-house newsletter, stable visits as well as the opportunity to join us in our Cheltenham Festival hospitality marquee.  If you would like more information about the club, further details can be found here…