- Monday, 01 December 2025 14:29
- Written by David Pipe
Royal Mer - For Sale to Stay in the Yard
I start my week in London with Gerry Supple for our annual trip to the capital for the Horse Writers Awards in London. We are kindly invited by Mike Vince and are joined on the table by Patrick Mullins and a few other special guests. We take the 9.30am train for Tiverton Parkway and are in Paddington in just two hours which is not bad going! We have a train booked for on the way home and I shall let you know next week if we make it home in time…we have been known to miss our planned return and we even had stay overnight on one occasion when the weather was bad so who knows what may happen!
Last week, Indulto Rouge made a pleasing enough debut to be third at Hereford in the Bumper in what looks to have been a decent race. The course was a little on the sharp side for our four-year-old and as the pace quickened he was caught a bit flat footed but he galloped all the way to the line and we will try and more galloping track next time.
River Run Free and Gold in the Rivers both filled the third place positions in their respective races, both also running very similar races, a little outpaced early on with the ground not as soft as ideal and then staying on at the finish. Both will be worth a try over further next time. We unfortunately could not run Kingston Queen at Newbury over the weekend as she was not quite right on Friday evening. It was not worth the risk of running her as I did not think she was 100% and it was a competitive looking race to be going into with a nagging doubt. The horses she has form with from bumpers last season filled the first two places in the race and so I would have like to have thought we would have been there with them come the finish. She seems fine over the weekend which is the good news so we will continue to monitor how she is in the coming days before making our next plan.
This Week
American Sniper runs at Plumpton on Monday afternoon, I just hope not too much rain falls before his race to make it softer than ideal. We were due to have three runners at Ffos Las on Tuesday but that meeting was called off on Monday morning because of waterlogging. Gentleman Toboot, Pachacuti and Eton Mes were due to make the trip to Wales but now will have further entries in the coming days.
Ocean Heights is running on the flat at Lingfield on Tuesday while we have runners over jumps on Wednesday. Providing Haydock get their anticipated rain, Jaipaletemps runs in the 3.12pm handicap chase over 2m4f and Rian Corcoran will ride. The combination will be looking for their hat-trick together though this will be their toughest assignment yet from an increased handicap mark. There is some good prize money on offer for the grade of race which has attracted a competitive field. The track should suit and the horses confident is high at the moment so fingers crossed he can again run well.
Walkadina runs in the mare’s handicap hurdle at Ludlow on Wednesday and Saccary runs on the card and both will be ridden by Jack Tudor. This is an easier race for Walkadina than the one she contested at Cheltenham last time and the drop back in trip should suit her as well. Saccary is yet to sparkle over hurdles but with some good flat form in the book I hope there is improvement to come.
On Thursday, Chemical Dave is likely to run in the Bumper at Market Rasen and we have entries at Exeter on Friday so keep checking the Daily News on the website for all the latest news on the stable runners.
We have confirmed King Turgeon for the Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday and will monitor the weather in the coming days before a decision about his participation is made. The forecast now looks a little drier than initially suggested and if this was to be correct then he is likely to take his chance. He enjoys the National fences and will stay the trip no problem as long as the race is not going to be run on heavy ground and it turns into a slog.
November Weather
It is hard to believe that we are already in December and the countdown to Christmas is well and truly on! We had some welcome rain during November, 148.5mm of rain during the month over 17 days. This is over 40mm more than what we had in November 2024 and takes are total rainfall for the year so far to 794.5mm. This figure is well over 450mm short of what we had for the same period last year and show why it has been a frustrating time for trainers and racecourses with regards to the ground for the last few months. The wettest November we have recorded at Pond House was back in 2022 when we had 211.5 mm of rain and the driest in 2004 when just 41mm fell, this year’s November rainfall was slightly above average for the month. December was quite dry last year so we will just have to see what the month brings but with 12mm so far on the opening day and still raining we are off to a good start!
Royal Mer – For Sale to Stay in Yard
We have an exciting opportunity for someone to become the new owner of Royal Mer. He was very sadly owned by Sam Sutton who passed away recently and we have bought him off his family to stay in training at the yard.
He is a gorgeous grey, seven years old and he measures at nearly 16.2hh. He has won five races over fences from 16 starts and been placed on another five occasions as well and he has earned over £46,000 in prize money so far as well. He loves the mud and the softer the ground the better and he is ready to run as soon as he has a new owner. He found last season a little tougher with his rating having rocketed to 123 but now back down to 112 he is starting from a winnable mark and promises to give connections a lot of fun in the coming months.
Please click the link below to see his form below:
https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/4566465/royal-mer/form
He is for sale to stay in the yard, please get in touch for more details, Tel: 01884 840715 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
