- Monday, 20 January 2025 15:54
- Written by David Pipe
Kingston Queen - Listed Bumper Winner
It has been a great week for the yard since last writing with another three winners added to the season’s tally, which included a listed success for Kingston Queen at Market Rasen. We are now on 41 winners for the season and are closing in on last year’s 46 winners with a nice amount of prize money won as well.
Jurancon, was re-routed from an abandoned Plumpton on Tuesday to Newbury on Wednesday and put up a nice performance to win quite comfortably for the second time over hurdles this season. He was a little below par last time at Exeter for some reason but he looked back to his best the other day, travelling and jumping well throughout. He made a little mistake at the last where Jack thought he was not concentrating fully but it did not stop him and he galloped all the way to the line. He will probably appreciate a step up in trip at some point but he is not short of speed and we will have to look at some bigger targets towards the end of the season.
I was delighted to get a win on the board for Phantomofthepoints this season at Wincanton on Thursday. He had run very well to be third at Haydock on his seasonal reappearance but then rather gave the race away last time in the shadows of the post at Chepstow. He has never done this before and he was perfect at Wincanton, so I can only think the thick fog at Chepstow played its part that day. We changed tactics slightly this time around and raced just behind the leaders, Jack Tudor produced him to challenge approaching the second last hurdle and they were strong in a battle at the finish. He is a tough individual who tries his hardest like his mum, Swing Bowler, who we used to train. We may now look at a Pertemps Qualifier for his next race.
Kingston Queen put in a very professional performance to win the mares listed bumper at Market Rasen on Friday. She has done nothing but improve in each of her bumper runs to date although it is difficult to know what she beat on Boxing Day at Market Rasen. She had to improve again to feature again in this race the other day and she duly did! Gearoid Harney was positive on her from the outset and she galloped on strongly from the home turn. She was being closed on approaching the line but Gearoid thought she just wanted some company and it was our jockey’s biggest career win to date. Kingston Queen, has picked up some valuable black type and is a mare with a bright future. She can now only run in either the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham or the mare’s bumper at Aintree so we will keep these in the back of our minds with Punchestown an option as well.
Lady Ballko was a little disappointing in the mares chase at Newbury, while we have placed her well to achieve her wins to date and she may not be quite up to this level, I do not think she was at her best and may be worth another go in this company at a later date. The re-arranged Sussex National at Plumpton may now be on her radar. Activist, returned to form with a fourth at Hereford and will appreciate a little further on a sharp course. King Turgeon put up a solid display to be third in the Somerset National at Wincanton. He carried top weight and went down fighting on ground that was not ideal. He lost nothing in defeat and is probably best on a left-handed track as well. Gericault Roque made a very pleasing return to action at Windsor on Friday to be third, just getting a little tired late on. He was returning from 783 days off the track and he travelled and jumped very well. The good news is that he seems to have come out of that race well and we can look forward to getting him back out again soon and building on that performance. There were also good runs from Seymourjohn and Thanksforthehelp who both finished third in their races.
This Week
It is a very quiet for us on the runners front for the next few days with our first runners not being until the weekend. We did have Missy Mole balloted out from her race at Warwick on Monday and then there were just not the right races at the right courses in the coming days for many of the others which is the way it goes sometimes. Belfrina is likely to head back to Doncaster on Saturday for a mares listed hurdle. She fell at the last flight there last time out when looking the likely winner and hopefully we can gain deserved compensation this time around and pick up some black type as well. Uttoxeter is likely to be our busiest meeting on Saturday with Jilaijone, Royal Mer, Toronet, Saccary and Vision De Main all having entries there. Keep checking the Daily News on the website for all the latest news on the stable runners.
Chipley Park Point to Point
On Sunday, it is our most local point to point meeting to the yard at Chipley, just outside of Wellington. We have all four of our point to pointers entered and all four are intended runners at this stage. African Lady could make her pointing debut in the mare’s maiden, while Fighter Allen and Sidi Ismael are looking to follow up their recent good runs at Wadebridge. Royal Defender is likely to run in the restricted race and so it could be a busy day for the team. The first race is at 12 noon, the Hunt race and it is sounding like it could be the most competitive race of the day if all the local hype is to be believed! Staff member, Mia Holmes, aged 16 is making her point to point riding debut in this race as well on a family owned/trained horse and I would like to wish her the very best of luck. I am hoping to go and recommend a visit if you do not have much planned on Sunday. There are usually lots of runners and plenty of competitive races.
Gearoid Harney
Thank you for everyone’s messages and best wishes for our conditional jockey Gearoid Harney who was involved in a nasty incident at Fakenham on Sunday. He was riding Micronormous for us and unfortunately, they both came down on the bend during the race. It was a horrible looking fall and Gearoid was knocked out as the horse’s legs caught him when they fell. The final race on the Fakenham card was abandoned as there was insufficient medical care left as the team looked after Gearoid before he went off to hospital. He was unconscious for about 10 minutes but thankfully his CT scans were clear and despite being battered and bruised and not remembering much he was allowed home from hospital. He visited Oaksey House in Lambourn on Monday to be checked over by their team of experts and with a plenty of rest he will make a full recovery. The ups and downs of being a jockey; he made the headlines for nearly getting mowed down by horses while he ran the track at Market Rasen on Friday before riding his biggest career winner and then ending up in hospital on Sunday! A whirlwind 48 hours for Gearoid! These jockeys are made of strong stuff and I am sure he will be keen to get back in the saddle once he is sufficiently recovered. I am pleased to report that Micronormous is completely fine after this as well and also that Remastered also fine. He was reported to have an irregular heart beat after pulling up at Market Rasen but he is absolutely fine in himself and will be fully checked over by our vets this week.
John Attfield
I was saddened to here of the passing of one of our owners, John Attfield last week at the age of 87. John has been a longstanding owner involved in various partnerships at Pond House for many years and he loved his racing. He would regularly go to his local meetings at Leicester, Huntingdon and Warwick and enjoyed cheering the horses on from at home when he could not attend. We have shared great success over the years with the likes of Mr Clarkson and more recently Micronormous and Lady Balko. His health had been deteriorating over recent months but following the racing was something he was very passionate about. My thoughts and best wishes are with his wife Sue and the rest of their family at this difficult time.
