- Monday, 30 September 2024 12:55
- Written by David Pipe
Chemical Warfare Winner at Sedgefield
We started last week how I would ideally love to start any week, with a winner! Unfortunately, we won’t be starting this week in the same manner as we were due to have runners at Newton Abbot on Monday but the meeting was abandoned due to waterlogging. Chemical Warfare made the long journey to Sedgefield last Monday and put up another gritty display to win for the third time this summer with Jack Tudor riding. He looked in a little bit of trouble leaving the back straight but responded well for pressure before getting to the front, probably a little too soon, idling and pricking his ears on the run in but always just doing enough.
He has now won a hurdle race and two chases since joining us and I think there is still more to come. His owners are based in the North, which was part of the reason we decided to run up there, and it is great they were able to lead in their winner. This was a qualifying race for the Go North Red Rum Chase Series with a valuable final to be held at Carlisle in March. This looks a nice target to aim for with Chemical Warfare and he may next be back in action at Sedgefield again during October.
We only had one other runner last week and that was Micronormous at Worcester on Friday. The rain-softened ground was not too her liking however and she was disappointing but she will be seen in a much better light back on a sounder surface next time.
This Week
We were due to have four runners at Newton Abbot on Monday but with that abandoned our next runners will possibly be on Thursday. We have Kolisi and Oceanline entered on the flat at Salisbury and Bashful Boy entered over hurdles at Southwell. On Friday, we also have entries under both codes, with Oceanline possibly running in the flat race at Ascot that he won last year off a two-pound higher mark. A lot will depend on what happens with the ground at these meetings this week for Oceanline, we could really do with a dry few days! We have two entries at Fontwell on Friday over jumps, Dindin and Skinfull. The weekend will be relatively quiet with just one entry at Kelso on Sunday but keep checking the Daily News on the website for the latest news on the stable runners.
September Weather
We have just had the wettest September we have ever recorded at Pond House in 24 years. 192.5mm of rain has fallen in the last 30 days with the previous highest rainfall being recorded in September last year at 168.5mm. Traditionally, September has always been thought of as a relatively dry month but we are definitely noticing a change here. For example, in 2001 to 2003 September rainfall was recorded as 22mm, 8mm and 10mm. While the last two years have been significantly higher than normal there has been an upward trend in general between these times. Our total rainfall for 2024 now stands at 969mm, which is again the highest amount we have ever recorded for this period since we started doing our records. 2023 was once again the highest until this year and that was only 881.5mm until the end of September so quite a lot more rain has come already than in previous years. Last week, you may have seen on the news that the M5 motorway was closed just North of Bristol because of flooding. I cannot recall this happening before, it may be we are not cleaning the drains as well as we used to but it is a problem we are likely to see more of in the future. We had to get to Worcester on this day and so left extra earlier and had to take a detour through heavy traffic in making it to the track on time. Looking ahead, October can also traditionally been quite a dry month compared to most until more recent years. 128 mm of rain fell in October 2023, I wonder what the month will entail weather wis this time around…
Ramses in Retirement
It was lovely to hear of news of our former star, Ramses De Teillee over the weekend. He is getting on very well in active retirement with Jess not too far from the yard. He has been up to all sorts, hacking, hunting, cross-country and show jumping and is getting on well in all disciplines. We take pride in finding all our horses the best possible homes when their racing careers are over and we hear regularly from people with photos and updates which is nice.
Rian Corcoran Starts Work
Young amateur jockey Rian Corcoran has joined our team this week. He is 17 years old and joins us on a part time basis while also riding out for point-to-point trainer Dean Summersby. Former inmate, Itacare, provided Rian with the best possible start to his jockey career last season giving him three wins on the board in his first season point to pointing. From this platform, Rian was able to gain ‘outside’ rides for other trainers, further valuable experience, and another couple of winners along the way. It was then decided he would not ride any more winners towards the very end of the last season to maintain his novice status as a jockey (having ridden less than five winners). He is therefore now in a very strong position to contend for top riding honours next season, including having eyes on the National novice title. He will continue to gain valuable experience between the flags while looks to get some more rides under rules along the way. Rian won the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the Wessex point-to-point awards evening for his winning ride aboard Itacare at Milborne St Andrew. He has been at Ballydoyle all summer, which has been an incredible experience and learning curve for him, but it is great to have him back on our team and he is a name to watch out for this winter.
