Finishing on a High!

Thanksforthehelp: Our last winner of the Season!

The 2022-23 season came to an end at Sandown on Saturday and we had a great final week to the season with four winners across both codes to end with 74 winners and over £1 million in prize money. This is our best season in terms of numbers and prize money for some Time and while I shall reflect in greater depth about the whole season in due course it has been a fantastic season and something we can build on again going forwards.

Our first winner of last week actually came of the flat at Windsor on Monday. Talap won for the first time since joining us from France on his third start under Tom Queally. Gemma claimed him for her parents and they asked me to train him with the aim to run on the flat before going hurdling. Our six year old was a little unlucky in running at Lingfield last week but had no trouble this time around and in testing conditions he stayed on well to the line to win by a nose. There was a 3 way photo and thankfully we came out the right side of it!! The son of Kingman is now a six time winner on the level and he has taken to schooling well at home so he should continue to give us a lot of fun under both codes this summer.

On Tuesday we had a nice Ffos Las double thanks to Bumpy Johnson and Abaya Du Mathan both scoring under Jack Tudor. This was Bumpy Johnson’s second win of the season at the track and he probably put in a career best performance. A mid season wind op has been the making of him and since then his form figures read 1421. He is travelling much more sweetly in his races, jumping for fun and then seeing out the 2m4f trip really strongly. He might well have one more run before his summer break and is one to look forwards to over fences in the autumn.

Abaya Du Mathan has been admirably consistent of late and it was a deserved victory for our twelve year old. He seems to like this race as it was the second time he has won it having won it 12 months ago as well!! He loves the track and appreciated the drying ground. He jumped for fun and really galloped them into submission.

Our final winner of the season was Thanksforthehelp at Southwell on Friday evening. At the weights and on ratings he should have won but it is never quite as simple as that but I was delighted to get a second win over hurdles from our grey. The track and conditions were probably not totally ideal but he put in a good performance. He could now run in the three mile handicap hurdle at Haydock on Swinton day before he goes home to Ireland for his summer holiday.

Alongside the winners this week others have run well to be placed. American Sniper, Kingofthewest and Dindin all finished third in their respective races.

This week

After racing today there is a four day break in the jumps action before meetings at the weekend. On Friday there is the hunter chase evening at Cheltenham.  At the weekend we have entries at Hexham and Uttoxeter so keep checking the Daily News for updates on our runners.

April Weather

We have recorded the wettest April at Pond House for nine years.  86ml of rain fell during April this year compared to just 23ml 12 months ago and only 12ml two years ago.  This has been good for racing during this period as it has meant less watering for racecourses and safer ground for all the horses during the last month of the season.  In the previous couple of years a lot of our horses have been on their holidays by the end of March because of the lack of rain and the going and so it has been quite nice not to have had this problem this time around.  We did of course have a very dry February this year so as per usual things to tend to even themselves out over the course of the year.  Having said that, we have now had the most rainfall in the first four months of this year since 2014.  We have recorded 400ml of rain here compared to 222ml in 2022 and 274ml in 2021.  In 2014 we had 504ml up until this point and it continued to be wet in May so we will just have to see what happens!

New Addition - Al Gasparo

It was great to acquire a new horse from the Punchestown sales last week.  Al Gasparo, a four year old son on Al Namix won an Irish point to point at Loughrea in March on his second start showing a good attitude.  He arrived over the weekend and is settling in nicely as we look forward to finding out more about him.  The horses were making plenty of money at the sales in Ireland last week but it was nice to be able to secure this fella who looks a good bit of value.

Summer Holidays

Even though the season has come to an end May is still pretty busy on the race track with lots of meetings coming up.  While we have let down several horses in preparation for turning them out to grass we have a nice team of about 30 horses in for a summer campaign.  The weather seems to have finally turned the corner with temperatures milder both during the day and night and we are hoping to get a lot of the horses out to grass in the next 7-10 days.  The grass has really grown in recent weeks and although it is not a time I enjoy so much - I tend to worry more about them out in the field than when they are in training it will be good for them all to enjoy a nice summer holiday.

Jury Duty

It is a first for me as I start Jury Service on Tuesday this week.  The timings have worked out quite well with no racing this week.  I shall be in the yard feeding up early as per usual but then will be out of service during the day in case anyone is trying to get hold of me!