Two Winners & a Story!

    Chemical Warfare - Worcester Winner

It is always great to start a new week with a winner and a particularly poignant today with Chemical Warfare winning at Worcester on Monday and I shall tell you a little story… A year ago to the day, on 8^th July 2023 Leanne and Gemma, Mandy and Emma from the yard took part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge in aid of Racing Welfare.  They put in a fantastic effort and raised over £5,000 for the charity with sore feet and aching bodies to show for it but that is just part of the story!  The girls stayed in an Airbnb in Giggleswick and travelled up to Yorkshire the day before the challenge with an early start the next morning. 

They went to the Black Horse Inn pub across the road from where they were staying that evening for dinner and Mandy’s son George, aged 11, had accompanied the girls on the trip as he was going to visit his sister while up there.  During the evening, George said he was not feeling well and disappeared to toilets.  He was gone a little while for them to discover, there was a wait for the toilet and just as a gentleman came out of the cubicle, George could wait no longer and was sick everywhere including all over the poor chap on his way out!  Unbeknown to the girls, the man left pretty quickly to go home and get changed as he lived not far from the pub.  The girls left instructions with the bar man to apologise before heading home themselves.

They completed the challenge the following day and returned to the pub that evening for dinner and come celebratory drinks.  That night, the girls noticed a horse-racing photo on the wall of the pub and asked the barman about the photo.  He told them the person who George was sick on, was the owner of the horse in the photo!  They explained who they were and to him and he said he would give ‘David’ a ring and see if he would like to come down as the girls would like to buy him a drink.  David, came down not long after and had a great time with the girls, donated to their cause and exchanged details.  He sent an email on the Monday to ask how George was feeling and they all kept in touch.  David and Steve came, visited Pond House later that summer, met me, and the rest is history so they say!  A chance meeting and I was delighted to train Chemical Warfare to win for them, they are great enthusiastic owners and it meant a lot to them.

Chemical Warfare looked a little unlucky not to win on his first chase start for the yard at Worcester when falling on the last and had a confidence-boosting win back over hurdles at Market Rasen after this.  He returned to fences this time and despite a couple of jumping errors Jack produced him at the last and he really sticks his head down and tries when asked for his effort.   That is now two wins from four starts since joining us and I am sure there is more to come.  He will probably continue to mix chasing and hurdling and there is plenty more fun to be had.

Chemical Warfare was our ninth winner of the season, following Only Fools who was winner number eight at Newton Abbot last Friday.  She is admirably consistent and got another deserved victory, her third over hurdles.  She appreciated the rain that fell during the afternoon, travelled strongly, jumped well, and kept going nicely from turning in. There were plenty of our Racing Club members in attendance on the day and special thanks to Newton Abbot with being so helpful in ensuring everyone who wanted to go to watch could.  She is another who will continue to run through the summer and give all our members plenty of fun.  It is only £150 to join our Racing Club for the year, great value with lots of action and enjoyment.  Get in touch with the office for more details about joining – email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

     Only Fools - Winner at Newton Abbot

Nibras Gold ran another solid race to be second again over fences at Stratford.  That is now two second places from two starts over the larger obstacles.  While a little frustrating that he likes to keep finishing second, the handicapper does keen putting him up for not winning and so he was racing off a career high mark.  He is a thoroughly likeable horse who I really hope can get a win beside his name next time out!  Back in the Bay ran a promising race in her first start in a bumper to be fourth at Worcester.  They didn’t go quite fast enough in the race and sprinted, which didn’t suit, but she galloped all the way to the line and finished strongly.  She will be suited by hurdles and a longer trip in due course.  The same applies to Granny Smith who ran in the same race. 

This Week

There is not much jumps racing this week and our next runner over obstacles will not be until Sunday at the earliest, with Hammer Dan holding an entry at Stratford on Sunday.  He was a winner at Newton Abbot but was then balloted out of two races at Worcester on Monday.  We could face the same problem this weekend with lots of entries in the race he has an entry in and little hope of it dividing.  There are plenty of horses in the same boat and it seems a shame at this time of year that we can’t get a run into these horses.  BHA, perhaps we need some more low grade handicap hurdle races please when there is fewer jumps fixtures on?

We do have two possible flat runners this week with Revel Angel holding an entry at Chepstow on Friday and Oceanline at Ascot on Saturday.  The intention is to run both at this stage so keep checking the Daily News on the website for the latest information on the stable runners. 

We could also have a runner in France at the weekend.  We have Heure De Gloire entered at Dieppe on Saturday.  She was a winner in France before coming to France and this looks a suitable race to try her back in her native land.  The plan is to run with Nathan Howie riding and so it will be interesting to see how she gets on.  

Deauville Sales

Leanne and I had a lovely trip to Deauville sales last week and while we didn’t come home with any horses we had some lovely food and French win and met lots of people out there!

I mentioned last week a horse I had for sale – an unbroken three year old by Cracksman who is the full brother to our very own Manuelito and some other top jumpers.  I am pleased to say he now has a new owner but I do have another horse available and he could be a cracking dual-purpose horse for someone!

TUXEDO JUNCTION

Tuxedo Junction is fit and ready to run.  He jumps very well and can run over hurdles or on the flat straight away.  He is a winner on the flat over 1m2f and has been places six times as well from 11 starts.  I bought him from Newmarket sales and I gave him a holiday before bringing him back into training.  He goes very nicely at home and I am looking forward to getting him on the track very shortly.  Please see the link below for all the details or get in touch with the office for more information.

https://www.davidpipe.com/horses-for-sale/for-sale