- Monday, 10 March 2025 13:36
- Written by David Pipe
Activist Winner at Fontwell
We are of course on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival and we head to Prestbury Park tomorrow with two runners who have each way chances. King Turgeon runs in the Ultima handicap chase at 2.40pm while Gericault Roque runs in the 5.20pm National Hunt chase and Jack Tudor rides both.
It would be fair to say this is actually Plan B for King Turgeon after a pricked foot led him to miss his intended target at Doncaster, the Grimthorpe chase just ten days ago. Thankfully, that came right very quickly and sometimes these things happen for a reason! Our seven year old has had a terrific season so far, bar a blip at Musselburgh last time. That was too bad to be true however and he is absolutely bouncing at home. He is a course winner earlier in the season and he will enjoy the better ground at Cheltenham. It is of course a tough and competitive handicap but if he gets into his usual good jumping rhythm early on then I think he should run a good race off a mark of 139.
Gericault Roque is a horse with huge talent that has unfortunately been fragile and a little difficult to train in recent times. I was pleased with his comeback run at Windsor in January following a long absence where he just got a little tired late on but he has done plenty of work since and is in good form at home. He was second in the Ultima at the Festival behind Corach Rambler in 2022 and has also finished runner up over 3m5f in the Classic Chase at Warwick so we know he stays and he likes the course. He races off a five-pound lower mark than when he finished second three years ago so all things point to a good run and we just need a bit of luck on our side.
American Sniper and Gold In The Rivers are our only other possible Cheltenham runners and they are both entered in the Pertemps handicap hurdle on Thursday. American Sniper will definitely get a run having won a qualifying race while Gold in the Rivers needs a few to come out to get a run. Both horses are big prices for the race so have it all to do but American Sniper will have blinkers back on and could out run his odds on some better going.
I shall be at Cheltenham all four days as we are once again hosting our Festival Marquee and I shall look forward to seeing many of you there. Jack Tudor and Matt Chapman plus special guests will be in to run through the day’s card every day before racing and let us hope we have some great racing to showcase our sport to the wider public. On Thursday, we have the sales after racing. Last year we bought the mare, Kingston Queen who has done very well this season, winning two bumpers including a listed contest at Market Rasen last time. That form was boosted at Sandown on Saturday and she heads to Aintree for the mares bumper next month. If we could find another horse like her at the sales this week, we would be very happy! If you are interested in finding out more, please do get in touch with the office on 01884 840715 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Activist Wins at Fontwell
Our horses continue in good form and Activist was our 47th winner of the season last week at Fontwell, meaning we have now beaten last season’s total which is great to do with so many weeks of the season still to come. Activist is a little bit of an enigma, he can either be good or bad in his races but that was actually his second win of the season and his fourth since joining us in 14 starts so we would certainly like a few more like him! He won quite cosily in the end but we do not intend to run quickly under a penalty and hopefully the handicapper will not overreact!
Alongside our winner, we actually had three seconds and a third from just seven runners last week. Royal Mer ran his best race of the season so far with a close second at Fontwell and he deserves to get his head in front next time. We actually had three seconds on the same day with Bras D’or also finishing runner up on his stable debut in the Bumper. Lock Out finished second at Wincanton, he ran his usual solid race and was second behind an impressive winner. Shot Boii was gallant in defeat at Exeter the following day. He jumped and lead the field until just getting passed on the run in. He deserves to get a win next to his name this season to reward his consistency.
This Week
We do not have any entries away from Cheltenham in the coming days but at the weekend Phantomofthepoints and Jilaijone head our entries in the valuable handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter on Saturday. Lady Balko has an entry in the novices handicap chase over three miles and on Sunday Castle Daragh and Vision De Maine are entered at Chepstow. Keep checking the Daily News on the website for the latest information on the stable runners.
Jack’s Pony Race
Jack rode in a pony race at Charlton Horethorne point to point on Sunday. While finishing nearer last than first once again I was most pleased about how he improved his riding from his first race to this one. He got a good start and did everything right, he cannot do much more if his pony is not quick enough! He enjoyed it, which is the main thing, and I am on the lookout for a faster pony!
Weekend Pointing
This weekend we have two relatively local point-to-point meetings at Cothelstone on Saturday and Buckfastleigh on Sunday. On Saturday, we have entered African Lady, Royal Defender and Sidi Ismael in their appropriate races and on Sunday First Lord Du Cuet could make his pointing debut while Sidi Ismael is also entered there as well. The starter on Saturday is Gerry Supple who will be ably assisted by Ashley Farrant so I hope everything goes smoothly!
