Winning Week

     Neon Moon Winner at Chepstow

It has been a great week for the yard with three winners since last writing and 19 winners on the board for the season so far.  Chemical Warfare won for the fourth time since joining us and for the second time in recent weeks up at Sedgefield.  He certainly does not seem to mind the long journey and loves the track.  He is versatile ground wise and put in another solid display to win comfortably in the end.  We considered entering him back at Sedgefield this weekend in the Durham National and while we wait to see what the handicapper does to him on Tuesday morning, he would have been some way out of the weights so decided against it.  He has come out of his race well and there are plenty more opportunities for him in the next few weeks

Pub Crawl made the journey to Sedgefield with Chemical Warfare and ran his best race to date over hurdles to be second.  He had looked booked for second at a respectable distance behind the short priced favourite who then came down at the final hurdle.  We briefly looked to have been gifted the race but were unfortunately passed on the run in.  He did battle all the way to the line and if he can build on this effort, he is capable of winning over hurdles. 

When I say we had three winners in the last week, we actually had four!  Pachacuti won the Welsh Jump Jockey’s Derby charity race at Chepstow on Friday with Jack Tudor riding.  I was delighted to be supporting the worthwhile cause by running horses for Jack and for Lorcan Williams to ride.  I was a little surprised to win the race with a three-mile chaser but he showed a terrific attitude in a tight battle against last year’s more flat bred, winner of the race.  He will be out over fences shortly and I hope there is plenty more improvement to come from him as a staying chaser this winter. 

I sponsored the final race on the Chepstow card last Friday and was delighted to win it with Lock Out ridden by Gearoid Harney.  The horse was well handicapped after being disappointing last season and back from a break he really enjoyed the good ground, jumped well and showed a good attitude in the finish.  Gearoid is a very tall lad and did will to claim six pounds of bottom weight of 10st 2lb.  We tried to follow up with a quick reappearance on Hereford on Monday but they slight drop in trip on a sharper track was against him.  He galloped all the way to the line and was a never nearer fourth but it was a respectable effort and a return to a more galloping course will be more to his liking.

On Saturday, we had a very similar scenario to Lock Out at Chepstow with Neon Moon running from just out of the weights in the Native River handicap chase.  I deliberated with his owners, Garth and Anne about running him before declarations but with limited opportunities coming up and the forecast decent ground we decided to let him take his chance and I am glad we did!  He is a horse that tends to run well fresh and won on his seasonal reappearance last year.  He put in another good display of jumping and then battled on well to the line after jumping to the lead at the last.  While the handicapper is more than likely to be quite harsh for him for this win, he is still relatively unexposed as a staying chaser and the wind operation has helped and I would like to think there is still a little bit more improvement in him as an eight year old.  It was particularly nice for owners Brocade Racing as they sponsored the race in honour of their great Gold Cup and Welsh National winner Native River who was at the track to parade.  With Neon Moon, we may well look at something like the Badger Ales chase at Wincanton next.  It is a course he likes and the ground can often be drier here at this time of year which will also be to his liking.

Bashful Boy ran well in the Cesarewitch to be ninth.  While not quite as good a finishing position as last year he was only beaten seven lengths into ninth place.  He galloped all the way to the line and it was a good run and we may well look to give him a spin on the all-weather again at some point.  Tuxedo Junction made a promising hurdling debut at Chepstow to be fifth.  He pulled too hard for much of the race but jumped nicely and it was a likeable performance.  The same can be said for Harry Junior who had his first ever start in the bumper at Cheptow.  He is a lovely big four year old, a baby and while showing his inexperience a times during the race he ran well for a long and will have learnt a lot from the experience.

This Week

Our first runners this week will come at Worcester on Wednesday and it will be great to have Jurancon make his hurdling debut.  He was two from three in bumpers for us last season and he is a five year old I hold in high regard.  He has schooled well and it will be good to get a run under his belt.  African Lady runs again in the mares handicap hurdle.  She has to improve on what she has shown so far.  On Thursday we are likely to have runners at Wincanton as it hosts its first meeting of the new season while on Friday Vision De Main and Thanksforthehelp may make their seasonal reappearances.  We have entries at Newton Abbot on Saturday but the course will be hoping they don’t get all the rain in the forecast or they may struggle to go ahead.  Keep checking the Daily News section of the website for all the latest information on the stable runners. 

Upcoming Sales

At the end of October, we have the Newmarket horse in training sales where there will be over 1,000 horses on the market.  The majority will have been running on the flat and there are horses available to suit all budgets.  We have contacted a lot of the flat trainers and they have sent some recommendations for horses that could make nice hurdlers.  I shall be attending and if you would like to get involved or find out more please do not hesitate to get in touch.  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pony Racing Training Day

As many of you know, my son Jack was not very interested in horses, ponies or racing until the last 10 months and now he is very keen and want to be the next A P McCoy!  On Sunday, he and his pony Tandy embarked on their first step on getting involved in pony racing by attending a training day under the guidance of jockey coach Rodi Greene.  About 20 kids participated in the day, which included riding flat work and on the gallops, equicisor coaching and education about fitness, balance and team games.  The first pony races in the West Country start in the New Year and they cannot start soon enough for Jack although he is already requesting a faster pony!