- Monday, 31 July 2023 15:08
- Written by David Pipe
I have just returned from a great week in Portugal with Leanne and the family and it has nice to see the weather has not cheered up at all back here since I have been away! 127mm of rain fell in July at Pond House which is the second highest amount we have recorded during the month since we started recording it in 2001. Despite being in second, it does fall some way behind July 2009 when we had 202mm. I can’t remember July that year very well but it must have been pretty miserable weather wise!
Last year, only 9mm fell in July so hardly anything and the year before that it was 109mm. Looking at the pattern of things, there is a strong chance July 2024 could be drier if you want to start planning any events now! Through the first seven months of the year we are significantly ahead in total rainfall compared to the same period last year and indeed several years before that. We are currently on 627mm for 2020 compared to 382mm to the same point last year. In fact, it is the most rain up to this point since 2014 when we recorded 682mm.
I am not sure what all this tell you but it is interesting to keeping an eye on it all. While the weather was hot is Portugal it was nowhere near as hot as a lot of places are experiencing right now. As we keep hearing, climate change is affecting us all and extremes of weather are likely to be more normal going forwards.
All this rain has meant that the racecourses haven’t need to do as much watering and we have not had to water our gallops so much either! We only had the one runner in the last seven days, Jet Smart and he was very disappointing. He pulled up at Worcester for no obvious reason and is rather frustrating as he shows ability at home.
This Week
Looking ahead to this week we are again quiet with runners as believe it or not it is quite tricky to find races! There is very limited opportunity for some horses and with a two week gap in racing coming up after Sunday it means we won’t have a lot running until racing resumes on 19th August. This week there is a two day fixture at Perth but it is a long way to travel unless you are confident of picking up some prize money. On Thursday we have Lady Reset and Dindin entered at Stratford but we are hoping for not too much rain before then. The ground is currently good which is fine but we do not want it to go on the softer side. Lady Reset is going for a hat-trick of wins in the mare’s handicap hurdle race on the card having won the race for the last two years in a row. She disappointed in just the one hurdle start so far but saves her best for Stratford and hopefully has a good chance off only a four pound higher mark than twelve months ago.
On Friday we just have the one entry, Pepsiwithacap at Bangor. She outran her odds at Worcester last time to be third and hopefully she can run similarly again and have a good chance. She is only likely to run if the ground is good or quicker however. We then have no runners over the weekend as there is just the jumps meeting at Market Rasen on Sunday where we do not have any entries. This is a restricted rider’s card which means only jockeys that have ridden less than 20 winners in 2022 are eligible to ride. While I like the idea to give some not so well-known jockeys a chance to have more rides it did mean that none of our regular jockeys could ride and therefore I did not make any entries. I and our owners are keen to support our own team of jockeys. There are some more established jockeys eligible to ride at the meeting, including James Best who we like and use if we are looking for an outside jockey and he looks set to have a busy afternoon with his name beside a horse nearly in every race. As you would expected however, the majority of jockeys eligible are younger claiming conditionals.
Mini-Break
As I said, after racing at Market Rasen on Sunday there is then no jumps racing for thirteen days when the action resumes back at the same track on Saturday 19th August. While I think racing needs to have a break, I am not a real fan of these mini-breaks. While it is perhaps good for the jockeys to have some time off, I have horses and owners waiting to run and everything has to continue as normal back at home. It is rumoured there might be a longer break scheduled for next year. Details are still to be confirmed, like when it would happen and for how long, but I think this could potentially work better for everyone involved, horses and humans. Watch this space!
Windsor Jumping
It was announced yesterday that jumps racing is set to return at Windsor after a 26 year absence. They last raced over jumps properly there in 1998 but did host some fixtures there in the 2004-5 season when Ascot was undergoing its re-development. Acambo won a valuable handicap hurdle there is the colours of David Johnson ridden by Timmy Murphy in December 2005. They have to make a few tweaks to the track to make it ready for the jumping to return but it is a great course with new facilities and it will be lovely to be heading back there with a few runners next season.
