- Monday, 25 November 2024 16:54
- Written by David Pipe
Micronormous Winner at Fakenham
It feels like it has been a long week since last writing with plenty going on and lots of challenges brought on by the weather along the way! Our 30th winner of the season was Micronormous at Fakenham. She won on chasing debut under Jack Tudor and it was great to get her off to a winning start over the larger obstacles. She is aptly named, as she is not very big but she has won an Irish point to point and had schooled well at home and it was just nice for me to see her do it on the track. She missed a whole year off through injury before returning in the summer and it is great to be able to reward her group of owner’s patience. This race was a qualifier for a valuable mare’s final back at the track in January and this is now her main target. She needs to finish in the first four in another chase to complete the qualifying criteria, but she has come out of the race well and we will look for another race for her shortly where the ground is not too soft.
We did not have that many runners last week but Jilaijone ran another good race to be second at Warwick. He ‘bumped into one’ at Fontwell previously to be runner up and seemingly may have done the same again the other day! The JP McManus owned horse was well backed at Warwick and duly obliged but he and us pulled well clear from their rivals. I hope that the handicapper does not put him up for this run as he has been very consistent without winning and he deserves to get his head in front next time. Phantomofthepoints ran a cracking race to be third in the valuable stayers handicap hurdle at Haydock on Saturday. He has always been a horse I have liked since he arrived with me, being out of the mare, Swing Bowler who was a very good mare for Pond House in the past. We were stepping Phantomofthepoints up in trip quite markedly for this race but I thought he would stay and would like the track and any rain that fell was a bonus. He lead the field a merry dance from the front and even though headed just after the third last he battled on very well up the straight and was closing on the front two again approaching the line. There are plenty of options coming up for him and he will probably jump a fence at some point as he has plenty of size and scope. We have not long had his half-sister join us at the yard as well; she is a lovely three-year-old filly by Getaway. She is showing promise with a lovely attitude like her mum and Phantom and is one to look forward to getting on the track later this winter.
This Week
This week promises to be a busy one with several runners and lots going on in general as well. Our first runners will be on Wednesday, with Shot Boii and Missy Mole declared for Hereford and Chemical Warfare heads further North, to Wetherby. Chemical Warfare will be looking for his fourth win in a row and Jack Tudor rides. He will need to put up a career best performance from his mark of 112 but he heads there in good form and the track will suit. Shot Boii ran okay on his seasonal return last time at Ffos Las and he will have come on for the run. We have reapplied the visor, have booked the services of Harry Cobden in the saddle and he likes the track having won there last season, so fingers crossed for a good run! Missy Mole makes her handicap debut in the mares handicap hurdle on the card.
On Thursday, Vision De Maine is likely to run at Lingfield and will attempt to bring up a hat trick of wins over fences. We will also have a few runners a little closer to home, at Taunton. Chauffeur Driven, Castle Daragh, Kintaro and Skinfull all have entries so keep checking the Daily New on the website for the latest information on the stable runners.
It could be a busy day for the team on Saturday, with entries at four meetings around the country. We have confirmed both Remastered and Neon Moon for the Coral Gold Cup handicap chase at Newbury on Saturday. The weights were raised nine pounds on Monday morning following the confirmation stage and there are now just a maximum of 16 to line up. I see Neon Moon is best priced 16/1 and Remastered, 40/1 which I think is a little overpriced. The latter is an intended runner and he has run well in this race previously, finishing runner-up in 2022 off a mark of 142. He runs off 145 this time around and I do not think he would have been far away when falling in the Badge Ales chase at Wincanton last time. He has recovered well after initial physio, has jumped nicely and he is back in rude health at home – he does not act his age! Neon Moon’s participation is likely to be decided by the weather. Should the track get the 20-30mm of rain forecast mid-week and the ground turn soft to heavy then we are more likely to head to Newcastle for the Rehearsal chase where the ground is good.
Our leading novices of the season so far could head to Newbury on Saturday as well. Walkadina has an entry in the listed mares race and Jurancon in the novice’s hurdle where he could step up in distance to 2m4f for the first time. Our other entries on Saturday include Lady Balko, Pachacuti and Yggdrasil at Bangor and Itseemslikeit and Pachacuti at Doncaster. We will see what the weather does and decide on plans later in the week as to who will go where. It could be a very early start for those travelling to Bangor with the first race due off at 10.35am! On Sunday, Activist may head back to Leicester where he won over course and distance last week.
Storm Bert
I hope everyone was not too badly effected by Storm Bert over the weekend. We were actually quite lucky here at Pond House. We had 38mm of rain over the weekend and strong winds but despite a few branches down and minimal damage it was not too bad. We did lose power for a while but have a backup generator and so things continue without too much trouble. Racing at Exeter was of course abandoned on Sunday but our lorry did not have to set off on its journey. We did make it to Great Trethew point to point with the aim of running Fighter Allen but that was unfortunately called off after one race when conditions were deemed unsafe. They returned to the yard safely and he may now head to Wadebridge to run a week on Sunday. I was supposed to be going to Exeter racing myself but ended up taking the children ten-pin bowling; thankfully, I showed them all how it was done!
Racing TV Filming
As well as Storm Bert in recent days, we also had snow and freezing temperatures with ice! It snowed al morning last Thursday and was bitterly cold at Pond House but the Racing TV cameras made it to the yard having stayed locally overnight. Anthony Dunkley came with producer Lily and cameraman Jordan. They filmed on the gallops, around the yard and then a piece with me. I believe it might be aired later this week so please look out for it and I will try to let you know if I hear exactly when, there should be some pretty, snowy scenes at the very least!
Newbury Sales
Following the conclusion of racing at Newbury on Saturday, there is a boutique sale of horses full of potential young stars. If you are interested in finding out more information, please do get in touch with the office, david@davidpipe.com.
