- Monday, 17 April 2023 13:09
- Written by David Pipe
Duc De Beauchene - Our 71st Winner
Another week has flown by, another Sunday and another winner for the yard thanks to Duc De Beauchene winning at Wincanton under Jack Tudor. This was our veteran chasers first win of the season but it was a deserved victory after being placed on his last three starts. The handicapper has given him some help but Jack gave him a nice positive ride and he jumped, travelled and won a shade cosily in the end. There is a race for him up at Perth next week so he will get and entry there and he may head to Scotland for his next race.
We were fairly quiet on the runner’s front last week but alongside the winner we also had a couple of seconds. Bumpy Johnson ran a cracker at Exeter while Abaya Du Mathan also ran well to be second again at Chepstow.
This Week
Several horses have now ran their final races of the season and we are letting them down in preparation for their summer holidays. Looking ahead to this week we have two runners on the flat at Lingfield on Tuesday, Pepsiwithacap and Talap. On Wednesday we will be represented by Gwencily Berbas in the marathon chase at Cheltenham and Panic Attack in a mares chase on Thursday. We have entries at Exeter and Fontwell on Friday so keep checking the Daily Blog for more news of the stable runners.
We did have Only the Bold entered in the Scottish National at Ayr on Saturday but we have decided not to confirm him on Monday. The ground is only good to soft and with a dry forecast this week we made the decision that he will not be running. He will now be going on his holidays and we look forward to contesting some nice staying chases with him next winter.
Vieux Lion Rouge
Vieux Lion Rouge went up to Aintree to parade on Saturday and I was in attendance with Professor Caroline Tisdall. He really enjoyed his day out in the sunshine at his favourite racecourse. He looked very smart in his specially made sheet. He was the winner of the Becher Chase over the Grand National Fences twice in 2016 and 2020 and was also the runner up in 2018. He jumped a total of 254 Grand National Fences in his career which is more than any other horse in history. Vieux Lion Rouge spent the weekend here at Pond House and we have just returned him to his Exmoor home on Monday.
Horse for Sale
We have just purchased JOHANNES from France and he is looking for an owner! He is a lovely three year old grey colt by French Fifteen out of a Verglas mare who has won his only flat start to date over 3200m at Loire at the beginning of April. He is 16.1hh and will make a lovely juvenile hurdler for this coming season. He looks excellent value at 62,000 Euros and he will be arriving from France this week. If anyone would like any further information please do get in touch with the office 01884 840715 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
New Arrivals
There were sales at Aintree last week after racing on Thursday and I am delighted to secure a further two additions to the yard, Worldwide Fury and Tough Approach. They finished first and second in their Irish Point to Point at Portrush and are two lovely young four year olds with great potential. Worldwide Fury is a half-brother to Fury Road who has some high class form to his name. He ran in the Grand National on Saturday and unfortunately fell early on but Worldwide Fury could be a name to look out for going forwards. Tough Approach is out of a multiple winning mare by a sire I like, Milan. Both horses are settling in well to Pond House since arriving on Friday and we will do a bit with them now before they head out to grass in a few weeks’ time and we can look forward to them starting off in Bumpers in the autumn.
John Doble
We were very saddened to hear of the passing of John Doble on 1st April 2023 aged 81. John lived not too far from the yard and has been involved in ownership at Pond House for several years and used to come and ride out quite regularly until fairly recently when his health prevented him from doing so. John loved his horses and was an enthusiastic part of Somerset Racing who currently own Itacare here at the stables. John was a lovely man, kind and very interesting to talk to. He had been on many adventures in his lifetime and told us some wonderful stories and knew some fascinating people. John was in the army and was commissioned into 17/21L in 1959, his service including Libya and an exchange posting with Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians). In 1969 he left the Army to join the Foreign Office, serving widely across the world in Lebanon, Brussels (NATO), Canada, Mozambique (where he was awarded the OBE), and Consul General in South Africa at the time of Nelson Mandela’s release. His final posting before retirement was as High Commissioner in Swaziland (since 2018 Eswatini). Our thoughts are with his family and particularly wife Sue at this time.
John’s funeral will be held at 2.30 pm on Friday 12 May at the church of St Mary the Virgin, Burlescombe, Tiverton, Devon EX16 7JP.
