- Monday, 25 March 2024 14:37
- Written by David Pipe
Bumpy Johnson after his win!
It was great to get three winners last week and take our seasons tally to 39. Only Fools got the week off to a great start by winning at Fontwell on Monday. She was a winner at Ludlow earlier in the season and has run consistently well bar one below par effort at Plumpton on her last run. She bounced right back to form at Fontwell, under slightly different tactics and pulled well clear of her rivals from two out. She is only small but jumps well and does not seem to mind what the ground conditions are. She is declared to run at Hereford on Wednesday and I think she has a good chance again. The handicapper is putting her up seven pounds for her win. Technically we did not have to run her again quickly as she is running off her correct future mark of 89 but she has come out of Fontwell so well this race looks another suitable opportunity.
We then had a double at Newbury on Friday, for Brocade racing and Jack Tudor with Neon Moon and Bumpy Johnson winning. Both horses had been a little out of sorts in recent runs but a return to some better ground was probably the most deciding factor in their improved performance. The handicapper had also helped as well. Neon Moon was back down to his last winning mark of 124, which he won impressively at Ludlow off on his season reappearance. He has then run in some good races off higher marks on soft ground, which has not been ideal. All things came together on Friday and it was a nice performance, hopefully the handicapper will not be too harsh this time! This was his sixth win of his career under rules and he is still only seven so I am sure he can win a few more races yet. He is qualified for the challenger stayers chase final race at Warwick at the beginning of April and so that is a possible target depending on what the weather does in the meantime.
Bumpy Johnson started this season off over fences but he was proving not to me a natural mostly due to some physical issues that we discovered. We have managed to give him some help with those and a return to some better ground and hurdles proved the key to success. The handicapper had dropped him to below his last winning mark and all this came together for the nice win on Friday. I think this will have done him the world of good mentally and he can build on this going forwards.
We had a pair of seconds at Chepstow on Thursday with Shot Boi and Lady Balko both filling the runner up spots. Shot Boii probably ran his best race to date over fences in finishing second. A bad mistake at the last did not help his chance but the winner won easily enough in the end. This was his first try at an extended trip, 3m6f and he saw it out well enough and looks worth another try in a marathon chase. Lady Balko was a little unlucky not to bring up her fourth win in a row, narrowly beaten into second. We dropped back in trip with it being our only option of running with a penalty but the gamble did not quite pay off. She lost nothing in defeat however and Jack had trouble pulling her up after the line! She is a fast and fluent jumper and has a great attitude. Life will be tougher off her new mark of 112 but I think there is more to come and she will be even better over fences next season.
This Week
Racing this week is very local in the first few days with Exeter on Monday, Taunton on Tuesday and Wincanton on Wednesday. We start off with one runner at Exeter, Royal Defender. We have three at Taunton on Tuesday, Skin Full, Manuelito and King Turgeon. On Wednesday we have three runners at Wincanton, Behind the Curtain, Johannes and Dances on the Sand and two at Hereford, Only Fools and Jurancon. Things are a little quieter towards the end of the week with there being no jumps racing on Good Friday. There are then plenty of jumps meetings for the rest of the Easter weekend and we have a few entries. Keep checking the Daily News section of the website for the latest information on the stable runners.
Eater Holidays
My children break up for their Easter holidays on Wednesday lunchtime and son Jack wants to go straight from school to Wincanton! He has taken a real interest in the racing in the last six months and after four days up at Cheltenham he is still mad keen! He is hoping to go racing most days this holiday so look out for him when we have runners! He is also keen to progress his riding and be a jockey! He can ride but has a lot to learn and I am not sure mum is too keen but time will tell, watch this space!
Only Fools! Neon Moon!
