Winning Lady

      Lady Balko Winner at Plumpton

The horses continue in good form and it was fantastic to start the new week with a winner at Plumpton on Monday with plenty of other good efforts from the team as well.  Lady Balko improved on her seasonal comeback run and enjoyed making all the running under Jack Tudor on just her second start over the larger obstacles.  She jumped very well with just a couple of novicey mistakes on the way round and had all her rivals in trouble before the second last fence.  It was a good performance off a mark of 113 and Jack thought she will be even better returned to a stiffer track.  She is a lovely mare with a great attitude and there is more to come from her this season.

Kingston Queen improved on her bumper debut to run another good race to be second at Plumpton.  She pulled well clear with the eventual winner and showed a great attitude in battling all the way to the line.  She is only a four year old and I cannot wait to get her out over hurdles in due course. 

Vision De Maine was next closest to winning but was narrowly beaten by a horse with a similarly progressive profile to our five year old.  There was nothing to choose between them jumping the last before that one edged on and we were then closing again at the line.  While frustrating not to win, we did nothing wrong and both horses will be winning again over the winter months and climbing up the ranks.

Chemical Warfare stumbled badly turning for home in his race at Wetherby and could not recover to challenge for places and finished fourth.  While disappointing that his winning run has come to an end I do not think he has finished improving just yet.  We can put a line through this effort and with a bit more luck on our side next time he can resume winning ways.  Shot Boii improved on his seasonal reappearance with a good front running ride from Harry Cobden at Hereford.  With the visor back on, he travelled sweetly and galloped all the way the line.  He will appreciate a return to a stiffer track with more emphasis on stamina. 

Chauffeur Driven posted his best effort for a while at Taunton to finish just out of the placings while Skinfull showed more promise on his chasing debut to be fourth.  Walkadina ran a nice race to be fourth a very competitive listed mare’s hurdle at Newbury on Saturday.  She held every chance jumping the last where a small mistake did not help and she was not beaten very far in the end.  She has come out of that race well and is likely to benefit from a step up in distance at some point as well.  Remastered never really looked that happy in the Coral Gold Cup before unseating Jack mid-way down the back straight the last time.  He has returned home safe and well and we will re-group and make a plan for him in the coming days.  Neon Moon ran okay at Newcastle in the Rehearsal chase to be sixth without every really being involved in the business end of the race.  He perhaps did not travel with his usual zest and maybe the trip away and slighter softer ground than anticipated were not to his liking.  He seems fine since the run and plans for him will be guided by the weather, as he prefers good ground or quicker.

This Week

After our Monday runners, our next runners will then not be until Thursday.  We have entries at Leicester and Wincanton.  On Friday, it is Exeter and at the weekend, we have entries at Aintree and Chepstow.

Our top novice hurdling prospect, Jurancon was due to be running at Ffos Las on Monday but that meeting was unfortunately abandoned due to waterlogging.  He has further entries at Leicester, Exeter, Aintree and Chepstow and I shall pick the most suitable race for him to run in.  He probably is better going left-handed but I think he will be fine at both Exeter and Leicester should that be where he ends up and I would like to think he would take all the beating wherever he goes.

King Turgeon has two entries on Saturday and he could line up back over the Grand National fences at Aintree in the Becher Chase.  He does have an entry at Chepstow as well but providing the weather does not interrupt plans he is likely to head to Liverpool.  He was a joy to watch in the Grand Sefton over those fences last month and he will not mind going back up in distance either as he stays very well.  With Coko Beach being confirmed for the race on Monday morning, we carry just 10st 2lb and many of the runners will be racing from out of the handicap.   He is near the head of the betting for the race and all being well he will line up on Saturday. 

Another horse I am looking forward to seeing back on the track in the coming days is Gentlemantoboot.  He made a pleasing stable debut to be third in a Newton Abbot bumper and he is a horse I think a lot of for the future.  He has entries at Exeter on Friday and Chepstow on Saturday and will run in one of these races; the more rain the better for him. 

Thanksforthehelp, Gold in the Rivers Eden Du Houx, Itseemslikeit and Pachacuti are just some of the names we will hopefully see on the track in the coming days so keep checking the Daily News on the website for the latest information on the stable runners.

November Weather

We recorded 106.5mm of rain at Pond House in November, not quite as much as in September and October and not as much rain as we have had in November for the last two years. Our total rainfall for the year until the end of November is 1258mm, the most we have ever recorded until the same point in over 20 years of keeping our records and more than we recorded for the whole of 2024.  Providing we have an average amount of rainfall for December then we are likely to record the wettest year on our records so we will see what the rest of this month has in store!  Let us also not forget we had snow in November as well, thankfully the white stuff did not hang around for too long!

Horse Writers Awards

On Monday, Gerry Supple and I are in London for the Horse Writers Awards at the Royal Lancaster Hotel.  It is a great social event we very much enjoy going to each year.  Last year, the weather meant we could not get home as there were no trains, fingers crossed it is not the same this time around!  Thank you to Mike Vince for the invite and we are on the same table as Patrick Mullins amongst others so I shall let you know if there is any stories to tell next week!

Racing TV – This Racing Life

For those of you who may not have seen the piece filmed by Anthony Dunkley and the Racing TV team here at Pond House recently, please follow the link below to watch:

Behind the scenes with David Pipe and Neil Mulholland | This Racing Life - YouTube