Craig Departs...

          A very young David, Craig & AP!!

Last week we said a fond farewell to travelling head lad Craig Wylie who has worked at Pond House for nearly 28 years.  In the autumn he told us of his plans to move back to his roots in Scotland with partner Lynn and you knew the day was coming but all of a sudden it creeps up on you!  Craig started work at Pond House in November 1995 and has been travelling our horses to the races ever since.  Born and raised in Hawick, he left school and took employment with Jaeger as a power knitter!  Although he played rugby in his younger days, horses were always his main interest.  He started riding at an early age and he rode out for local trainers Ken Oliver and John Leadbetter growing up.  He then worked for Mary Reveley for three years before a spell in New Zealand with Mike Moroney and then he started working for my dad when he returned to the UK. 

He has travelled our runners Worldwide and he took Far Cry to Australia when he ran in the Melbourne Cup in 2000.  Craig and Lynn have two grown up children, Erin and Joe and with them having moved away from home, they decided to go back to be closer to their families.  There was never a dull moment in the yard with Craig around and he is well known for his racing knowledge, quick wit, and sense of humour and love of beer!   We had leaving drinks at the local Culm Valley pub on Thursday evening and there was a great turn out of staff members, past and present in attendance to wish him well.  Even a certain A P McCoy was came down to say his goodbyes.  We collated many photos from over the years and they provided some laughs for everyone on the night! It is testament to how well he was regarded and how much he will be missed with everyone who came along.  We have told him he should write a book as there are so many funny stories he can tell from over the years!  Friday was an emotional day but we would like to wish him well for the future.

Ben Dixon

Ben Dixon is replacing Craig as our new travelling head lad to work alongside Bob Hodge.  Ben used to work at Pond House many years ago and rode against me in point to points!  He left racing and has been in the building trade but along with wife Mel have been training their own point to pointers in recent years for their son to ride.  He has his HGV licence and used to do a lot of driving and when he heard that Craig was leaving before Christmas, he approached me and I was quick to snap him up! 

Wettest March

We have just recorded the wettest March at Pond House since we began recording the rain over twenty years ago.  163mm of rain during the month and I see that Sandown racecourse recorded their most rainfall ever as well.  Our previous highest came in 2001 with 146mm and next best after this was 130mm in 2018.  Rain fell of 22 days out of 31 and it did feel like it never stopped!  We have had 313mm of rain so far this year, which well over 100mm more than to this point in 2022.  The next week looks set to be dry but hopefully we do keep getting a little bit of rain for the horses running up until the end of the season.

Buster Edwards

It was lovely to hear news that former inmate Buster Edwards was back in the winner’s enclosure in the pointing field over the weekend.  Buster Edwards was a winner for Pond House before a tendon injury saw him return home to his owners for his rest and recovery.  A local young lad then started riding him and he was in such good form they decided to give him a try back point to pointing and it was lovely he gave a novice rider a great victory. 

Princesse Anne

I went to Taunton last Thursday along with my parents as a guest of the Injured Jockeys Fund to have lunch with Princess Anne.  She had come down in the morning to open the new rehabilitation facility based at Taunton rugby club.  It is fantastic we have such a good facility so close by where jockeys and indeed anyone who works in racing can go along for injury treatment and fitness and health advice.  The main base is of course at Oaksey House in Lambourn and there is also Jack Berry house for other side of the country but it is brilliant we have this on our door step.  Princess Anne was then at the races and she awarded Hammer Dan the best turned out prize in his race and so Rosie Clarke got to meet and chat with her personally which was lovely.

Runners Last Week

We did not have many runners last week and unfortunately no winners for the stable from them but several more good placed efforts.  JIlaijone ran a cracker at Taunton to be narrowly denied while Duc De Beauchene, Abaya Du Mathan and Mr Tambourine Man all finished third and Make Me A Believer fourth.

This Week

We are a little quieter on the runner’s front at the start of this week but get busier as the week progresses and the weekend looks set to be very busy.  Pepsiwithacap runs for the first time for us on the all-weather on Wednesday while Talap could make his stable debut at Bath on the level on Good Friday.  Anglers Crag will run at Wetherby on Thursday while I have yet to decide for definite about what runs at Hereford on the same say.  On Saturday we have several entries at Newton Abbot and Haydock while on Sunday we have entries at three meetings, Ffos Las, Plumpton and Market Rasen.  Keep checking the Daily Blog for more up to date news of our runners.  It will be great to be back racing at Newton Abbot for the first time this year while there is some good prize money on offer at Haydock for the Challenger race series finals.

Bath Prize Money

While there is no jumps racing in Britain on Good Friday there are three flat meetings and there is some fantastic prize money on offer at Bath.  The highest quality of race is a 0-75 contest with everything else below this but all the races are worth £26,000 plus in prize money added.  This has not gone unnoticed by trainers and owners alike and the races attracted 409 entries for the seven race card!  It just goes to show what can be done and how competitive racing can be achieved by just adding a bigger prize fund.  In the 0-75 handicap, there are 80 entries for this race but only 14 can run and when declarations are made it is likely that the rating will be spread from just 75-73, so not really a handicap but shows how competitive and attractive the races are to everyone!