What A Birthday Week!

Barrier wins four in a row!

What a week!  My fiftieth birthday came and went and I am still here!  It was great to get a birthday winner on the day thanks to Barrier Peaks and I celebrated with a couple of drinks at the Culm Valley pub that evening.  Thanks must go to my wife Leanne for organising a great birthday weekend away from which I have just returned.  We hired and amazing house in the outskirts of Dulverton and had a weekend celebrating with family and friends.  Daughter Sophie made me a lovely birthday carrot cake and all I need now is a few days to recover, it has not been a bad start to my 51^st year!!

Star Barrier

We had just nine runners in the last week and it was brilliant to get three winners, nearly four from those runners.  Barrier Peak accounts for two of those successes and what a star he has been in the last month.  He has now won his last four starts, a fantastic achievement as this is not an easy thing to do at any level.  He travelled to Market Rasen on Tuesday and won well under Fergus Gillard and we decided to run him again quickly as he escaped a penalty for that victory because it was a conditional jockey’s race.  Our seven year old made it two victories in four days with another nice success at Uttoxeter on Saturday.  He was made to work a little harder for this win but with the ground drying out all the time this is not to his advantage and he was always just doing enough.  We do have him entered again this week but we are unlikely to take up these engagements at this stage.  The handicapper will have his say for the two victories on Tuesday but then we will make a further plan after this.  I don’t think his improvement has finished yet but to be at his best we will probably wait for some rain and give him a bit more time before his next run.  Not every horses can cope with runs quick together but he is a big strong horse who loves his food and never leaves nut.  From our records we keep about horses’ weights, it is more the travelling to and from the races which tends to have more of an effect on them rather than the actual race itself.  This fella travels well in the lorry and is a very relaxed character which is another reason he has taken his races so well.  It has been lovely for the members of the David Pipe Racing Club to enjoy his journey this season and thanks must go to the Angove Family for kindly leasing him to the Club.

Bumpy’s First Hurdling Win

I was delighted to finally get Bumpy Johnson’s head in front over hurdles and reward the patience of his owners, Garth and Anne Broom.  He won a bumper on stable debut but this was his first win since, in fairness he is very lightly raced but he has also been a little frustrating.  He is a terrific work horse at home but was just not showing it on the racecourse.  A recent wind operation however seems to have done the trick and despite not looking like the winner as the horses left the back straight in the race at Ffos Las he kept on galloping and was doing all his best work late on under a fine ride from David Noonan.  Hopefully this will have done his confidence the world of good and he can progress from here.

Other Runners

Brocade Racing were unlucky not to have a double last week and me a birthday double after Neon Moon was collared very late on at Taunton to be second.  Philip Armson sent him to the front and he had a commanding advantage from turning for home but unfortunately our gelding got a little lonely on his own, idled and a slow jump at the last ultimately cost him momentum and he did not have enough time to respond when challenged very late by the winner.  I know jockey Philip would do things slightly differently if he could ride the race again but these things happen and hopefully he can gain compensation next time.  There were also good runs during the week from Dindin who was second, Ramses De Teillee who was third and Red Happy who was fourth so all in all not a bad week for the stable.

This Week

Shot Boii is our sole representative at Plumpton on Monday, D’jango runs at Lingfield on Tuesday while we are likely to be at two meetings on Thursday, Leicester and Sandown and two meetings on Friday, Fakenham and on the flat at Southwell.  At the weekend we have entries at Ascot, Haydock, Wincanton and Musselburgh, including First Lord Du Cuet in the Grand National Trial at Haydock.  Keep checking the Daily News for more information on the stable runners.

Tom Scu Update

Tom Scu has been in riding out over the weekend and on Monday morning and is looking forward to being back in the saddle on the racecourse later this week.  He undergoes a concussion test tomorrow morning and providing that all goes well he could be back on the racecourse on Wednesday although riding for us it is more likely to be on Thursday and so it will be great to have him back.

Royal Artillery Race

We are delighted to be supporting the Royal Artillery Gold Cup race at Sandown on Thursday thanks to Mr & Mrs Wilson leasing their horses for this occasion.  It is a race that we have won in the past with Rathlin Rose and fingers crossed Abaya Du Mathan, Red Happy and Texard can give their jockeys a great day out and one of them can win!  Sergeant Nick Oliver came down to school Texard at the weekend and got on well while Ben Sutton will be on board Red Happy and we are just waiting to confirm a jockey for Abaya.  Sadly for the racecourse and the Royal Artillery there are not many entries in the race and I really hope we are not in danger of these traditional races being lost from the racing calendar. The Grand Military Gold Cup takes place at Sandown in March and fingers crossed they will be better supported for this race.  They have altered the criteria for this race, meaning that owners do not have to be connected to the military so hopefully this will encourage some more people to enter.

Shotavodka

We were very sad to hear of the passing of Shotavodka in recent days at the age of 17.  “Shottie” had been enjoying his retirement with owner Jane Gerard-Pearse and she enjoyed riding him until more recently when he started suffering a little with his health.  He won nine races in his career, four chases, three hurdle races, a bumper and a point to point and he was also placed a further 18 times from 44 career starts.  Rated 148 at best he won over £113,000 in prize money.  He was not the biggest in stature but he had a big heart and was a joy to have at Pond House.