What A Whopper!

What A Whopper!

It’s been an eventful week and before I go any further, I have to make reference to my son, Jack’s fantastic haul at the weekend.  He went fishing to a carp lake in Hemyock and whilst he was there, he caught his biggest ever fish…a 10.9lbs carp!  It took all of his strength to reel it in and land it, but he was helped by a very kind gentleman who was angling nearby.  You can see how proud Jack is from the picture – he loves sport of all kinds and this will only serve to encourage him further.

Dindin Does It

Onto matters racing and the stable was back among the winners last week with the success of Dindin (pictured right) at Warwick on Tuesday, our 28^th of the season.  It was a long overdue and richly deserved first win on these shores for the horse, following a number of placed efforts as well as an unlucky last fence fall when he had a race at Newton Abbot earlier in the season at his mercy.

There was to be no repeat of that mishap on this occasion.  Jumping well in rear under Philip Armson, he delivered his challenge in the straight and came right away to record a facile 13 length victory.  As this was a conditional jockeys’ race he can run again without a penalty and he will contest the 2m4½f handicap chase at Southwell tomorrow.

For jockey Philip Armson it was a 40^th career victory, meaning that his claim is reduced from 5lbs to 3lbs.  Of course, that will help him physically as he will not have to do such light weights, although as everyone knows, it gets harder for conditionals as they go through their claim.  Philip, who continues to lead the conditional jockeys’ championship, will have to work even harder if he wants his success to continue.  He is an accomplished young jockey and we will continue to support him, so I am sure he will be fine.

Sibling Rivalry

Talking of conditional jockeys, we were joined this morning by Theo Gillard, who is conditional to Donald McCain and older brother of Fergus, who is based with us at Pond House.  The pair have shared a friendly rivalry throughout their young careers and are both excellent riders.  You wouldn’t know it from the photograph of them in the yard this morning, but they are both extremely tall lads – Theo is 6 foot 3 inches and dare I say it, Fergus, who is still only 20, looks to have caught him up since the last time I saw the two together.

The Week Ahead

We start today with four runners at Newton Abbot, three of which are for the David Pipe Racing Club.  There will be plenty of members in attendance to cheer on Ben Lilly, Kalma and Nordic Combined.  Ben Lilly ran a decent third over 3m2½f last time and competes again over course and distance in the 2.18pm race with Fergus Gillard in the saddle.

Kalma contests the mares’ handicap hurdle at 4.03pm.  She is better than she has been able to show in three starts this season and could outrun her odds.

Nordic Combined is the club’s final runner in the 2m5½f handicap hurdle at 5.13pm – he is a talented horse, although he has a few quirks too.  Hopefully they can go well for the assembled members and if you would like to find out more about getting involved in the club, you can do so by clicking here…

Cadeau d’Or contests the same race as Nordic and he has been improving with each start over timber.  He was not beaten at all far from this handicap mark last time out at Plumpton and he should go well again with Tom Scudamore aboard.

On Tuesday, Dindin, as mentioned above, runs at Southwell where he will be able to compete from his old rating before he is reassessed and he will be joined by another Judith Wilson owned runner, Red Happy, who contests the 3m½f novices’ hurdle.  He has been in good form of late, winning at Bangor, before finishing a close third when reverting to timber on his penultimate start at Worcester.  This looks like an excellent opportunity for him to get off the mark over hurdles and Tom Scudamore will ride him.

Abaya du Mathan will contest the conditional jockeys’ handicap chase at Bangor on Wednesday, whilst the David Pipe Racing Club will be represented by Iron Heart in the 2m7f handicap hurdle.  It will be a first attempt at the trip for him, but he looks well worth a try.

The admirable Lady Reset is entered in a mares’ handicap hurdle at Warwick on Thursday, whilst we have plenty of entries at Fontwell for their two-day meeting which gets underway on Friday.  Amongst those are Borntobealeader and Master Blaze.

We finish the week with Uttoxeter’s meeting on Sunday where Colony Queen and Katpoli could make their debuts for the stable.  The former, a multiple winner on the flat, has been here for a while and is an exciting prospect for her owners, The Angove Family, whilst Katpoli, a winner in France already this season is a recent addition to the stable.  We will make a decision on their participation a little nearer the time.