- Monday, 08 July 2024 16:27
- Written by David Pipe
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 8th 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. .