- Monday, 11 December 2023 16:01
- Written by David Pipe
Jurancon - Winning Stable Debut
We nearly started the week with a winner up at Ayr, but unfortunately Phantomofthepoints was chinned on the line on hurdling debut! Even though it is gutting to travel all that way and just get beaten, the winner won the bumper at Aintree in April and we both pulled well clear of the rest so it was a nice performance and he can win next time.
Our final runner of last week was a lovely winner, Jurancon in the bumper at Chepstow on Saturday. He is a gorgeous four year old who won an Irish point to point in the autumn and he made a winning stable debut in impressive fashion under Gearoid Harney. He pulled clear from the rest of his rivals from over one furlong out. He has come out of the race well and he is an exciting prospect for the future. There are no immediate plans for him but I shall discuss the options with Garth and Anne Broom as to whether we go for another bumper or now go hurdling. We used to have a very good horse called Jurancon years ago and it looks like his namesake could be even better with lots to look forward to.
The weather played it part in interrupting jumps racing last week and with several meetings abandoned. We didn’t have any runners during the week apart from Ocean Heights on the all-weather at Kempton last Wednesday. He ran another super race and finished a close second over 1m2f. He lost is position a little mid race and had a wide trip round the bend but galloped on strongly to the line. This was only his second handicap start and our lightly raced six year old deserves to get his head in front next time. He heads back to Kempton next on 19th December for a handicap over 1m4f.
The ground was very hard work at Sandown on Saturday and Jilaijone put in a very rare below par performance but he did not enjoy conditions. Sidi Ismael seemed to have taken to the Grand National fences very well but sadly got no further than the chair when separating from jockey Kevin Brogan. He was just perhaps a little too brave and got slightly hampered by another horse which was enough to unship the jockey. He jumped a few fences by himself before being caught safely and he has returned none the worse for his outing. I know it was far too early to say what might have happened but he loved conditions and would have stayed all day so I would like to think he could have been involved in the finish with a safe passage. I would not be adverse to taking him back for these fences another time.
This Week
Things are looking a little busier this week and with the weather set to stay dry now hopefully all meetings will go ahead as planned. The BHA were proactive in re-arranging meetings at Exeter and Wincanton which were lost last week. We have four runners at Wincanton on Tuesday which are Lady Balko, King Turgeon, Sizing Pottsie and Kingofthewest. Leicester have lost their last two meetings but have now changed Wednesday’s fixture to an all chase card in the hope to get racing on. We have two runners on the Leicester card, Keppage and Royal Mer who will both enjoy the forecast heavy ground. Lock Out will be our only runner on the rescheduled Exeter card and he runs in the three mile handicap chase with David Noonan on board. On Thursday we have entries at Taunton and Warwick and on Friday we have entries at Cheltenham, Bangor and Doncaster. We also have plenty of entries over the weekend so keep checking the Daily News for the latest information on the stable runners.
Congratulations to David and Rian
I must say very well done to jockeys David Noonan and Rian Corcoran for their weekend successes. David rode his first Grade 1 winner aboard Le Patron at Sandown for Gary Moore and it was a much deserved success. David has been an important part of our team for many years, joining us when he came over from Ireland and learning all the ropes on the West Country point to point circuit. He is now number one rider to Jane Williams but still rides out at Pond House regularly and we will continue to utilise his talents. He is a hard-working and dedicated young man and it is great to see him on the big stage.
On the other end on the scale, a very well done to 16 year old Rian Corcoran who rode his first point to point winner aboard Itacare at Wadebridge on Sunday. Rian has been riding out in his school holidays now for a little while and he is a talented young rider who has big ambitions of being a jockey. He has ridden plenty of winners pony racing and is following in the footsteps of his dad Liam who was a successful jockey as well. He is still at school at present but aims to get as much experience as an amateur this winter before turning conditional once he has left school next summer. It is through his connection with Pond House that he and his family were able to lease Itacare from Somerset Racing and Richard Wilkin. The six year old has fitted in very well with the Corcoran family, even Rian’s nine year old sister Niamh rides him out at home! It is even better that Rian has now ridden his first winner on the six year old. I am sure it is the first of many and he could be a name to follow in years to come.
London Horse Writers Awards
Gerry and I enjoyed our annual trip to London last Monday as guests of Mike Vince but we just got stuck in London! All trains were cancelled due to lots of rain causing flooding on the tracks so we had to stay the night! After accidentally missing our intended train the next morning, there was still a lot of disruption and further cancellations. We did make it home by Tuesday evening so all’s well that ends well!
Trip to Scotland
After racing on Saturday, Leanne and I headed to Scotland and had an enjoyable couple of nights in Edinburgh before racing at Ayr on Monday. It was our first visit to the city and I highly recommend a visit to anyone who has not been. We met up with former travelling head lad Craig Wylie who gave us a lift to the races. Craig is enjoying being at home in Scotland but it was lovely to see him – he hasn’t changed a bit!
