- Monday, 10 October 2022 15:02
- Written by David Pipe
There was desperately sad news last week when Adagio collapsed and died on the gallops after suffering a heart attack on Thursday morning as he was completing his preparation for Saturday’s Cesarewitch handicap at Newmarket. It is devastating to lose any horse - you get to know their personalities and traits when you see them every day and to not have them pop their heads over the door to greet you is very difficult. It is harder still to lose a horse of such rare ability – a real standard-bearer for Pond House, horses such as him simply do not come along very often and he leaves a huge void.
A Grade One winner over hurdles, Adagio had also finished runner-up at the Cheltenham and Grand National Festivals as well as in the prestigious Greatwood handicap hurdle under top weight as a four-year-old, before contesting the English and Irish Champion Hurdles last season.
His owners and the entire team at Pond House are extremely upset by his loss and I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to all of them, as well as to his groom, Bex, who was absolutely devoted to him.
I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to offer messages of sympathy; they have been of great comfort to us.
Horses To Follow
Onto a more positive note and it is that time of the year when we produce our popular annual series of video interviews with the personalities at Pond House, who each nominate a horse to follow for the season ahead. We were joined by broadcaster Mike Vince, who kindly gave of his time to chat with everyone and I hope that you will enjoy watching these as much as we have enjoyed making them. I will kick off today and will feature the others over the coming weeks, you can view it by clicking on the image below. Some are better judges than others and it will be interesting to see who has earned the bragging rights at the end of the season.
Improvements Continue Apace
Improvements continue apace at Pond House and during the off-season we have made a considerable number of alterations to the place. We have put new roofs and skylights on a number of boxes and buildings, including the swimming pool and horse walkers and opened up a number of ceiling cavities to help increase natural light, which is of course a great source of vitamin D. Meanwhile, we have also resurfaced the drive and expanded the car park and we are not done yet. It is important to constantly evolve in this industry and we are doing just that.
Last Week
The rain continues to threaten, although it has amounted to very little so far with only 13mm at Pond House during the past week. Exeter and Wincanton were forced to abandon their season opening fixtures as a consequence, but hopefully that is about to change with rain in the forecast from Thursday onwards.
We only had a handful of runners last week, although what we did run performed well. Al Roc bookended the week by finishing third at Stratford on Monday, before filling the same position in the veteran’s handicap chase at Chepstow on Friday. He has proven to be a real money spinner this season, winning four times and he picked up in excess of £3,500 for Friday’s effort alone.
Red Happy also ran with credit when finishing runner-up in a novices’ hurdle at Worcester on Tuesday. Despite the small field size, it was a decent contest and he was probably beaten by a nice prospect. He continues to run as well as he ever has and will likely revert to fences as I know his owner is keen for a crack at the local Nationals with him. He stays particularly well for a five year old and he should continue to thrive.
The Week Ahead
With no jump racing taking place this afternoon, we start at Huntingdon tomorrow with Dindin in the 2m7½f handicap chase. He has run a string of good races this season and has been unfortunate not to win more than once. We try a slightly longer trip with him, although he has won over similar distances in France and this is a sharp track. Philip Armson is in the saddle and he should give another good account.
Texard runs in the 1m7f handicap chase at Wetherby on Wednesday. A progressive type since arriving from France, he was a little below-par on his latest outing, but that was a very competitive race and he has had a little break since. Tom Scudamore rides and this looks a good opportunity to earn some prize money with him.
Sizing Pottsie could make his debut for the stable in the novices’ hurdle at Carlisle on Thursday, although I will be hoping that they get a bit more rain before now and then. A Grade 2 winner over fences, we picked him up at the Tattersalls Sales in May and he has pleased me ever since. He is an exciting recruit for the team and this looks a good first step for him before possibly reverting to fences later in the season.
We have several entries at Uttoxeter on Friday and Newton Abbot (where it is their final meeting of the season) on Saturday. High class hurdler/chaser Umbrigado is amongst those, whilst Barrier Peaks is another that is entered at both meetings and could make his debut for the David Pipe Racing Club in one of the novices’ hurdles. We will make a decision on their participation a little later in the week.
Early Closing
Entries for the Grand Sefton handicap chase at Aintree close tomorrow and I would imagine that we will have several entries for the race that is held over 2m5f on the Grand National course. Al Roc, Abaya du Mathan and Texard are likely entries for the race that takes place on Saturday 5th November.
