- Monday, 12 January 2026 15:29
- Written by David Pipe
Bashful Boy ran well again on the all-weather last week to be third at Wolverhampton. The race was probably not run to suit as they went quite slowly and turned it into a bit of a sprint and although initially outpaced he stuck on well to the line and was not beaten that far. A return to Kempton or Southwell will see him in a better light and he deserves to get his head in front soon.
On Thursday, there was an extra meeting put on at Ffos Las as a result of recent abandonments and we capitalised on this with a win from Itseemslikeit who made it two from two over fences this season. He is probably the biggest horse we have in the yard and chasing was always going to see him at his best. The aim was to go chasing last season but a bad cut kept him off so long we postponed the switch until this season. He is very lightly raced but he is only a seven-year-old and because of his size this will have done him no harm at all. He won this race off a mark of 120 and we will see what the handicapper does to him on Tuesday but I hope there is still room for improvement off of his new rating. Staying handicap chases on soft ground are his ideal and long distance staying chases and regional nationals are a likely stepping stone as he continues to progress.
Pachacuti returned to form with a pleasing second at Ffos Las as well. This was back over hurdles which he seemed to enjoy and so we will stick to that for now and hope he can build on that next time. On the same day, American Sniper ran his usual honest race to be fourth at Taunton while Best Night has her best race for a while to be second in the mare’s hurdle for Rian Corcoran. At Exeter on Friday, Eton Mes finished fourth for the third time in a row in the novice’s hurdle and now qualifies for a rating. Royal Mer ran another solid race to be a close second in the 2m1f chase. The fences down the back straight were omitted due to low sun which was not ideal but you could not fault his effort and he deserves to get his head back in front next time.
This Week
Our first runner of this week will actually be in Scotland on Tuesday! Bras D’or travelled up to Ayr on Monday and stayed overnight to run in the novice’s hurdle on their card over two miles and Jack Tudor rides. We thought this looked a good opportunity for him to hopefully get his head in front for his first ever success. It was a good run at Ludlow last time and hopefully he can now go one better.
On Tuesday, we head to Newbury with two runners, Harley’s Pride and Gold in The Rivers and Jack Tudor partners both horses. Harley’s Pride looks up against it in a tough race but this will qualify her for a handicap mark. Gold in the Rivers has run well in two chase starts so far this season and this will be his first run since wind surgery. He also steps up in trip which will suit and sports first time blinkers so fingers crossed he can produce a big run.
Things are quite busy as we look towards the end of the week and the weekend. On Thursday, we could be represented at three meetings with entries at Ludlow, Newcastle and Wincanton while on Friday we are likely to be at Windsor and Market Rasen. Red Wine Supernova is an intended runner in the Listed mares bumper at the latter, a race we won last year with Kingston Queen. She won nicely on stable and career debut at Sedgefield on Boxing Day and although it will be a competitive race, our mare shows a great attitude and I am looking forward to seeing her step up in grade. Gericault Roque has entries in two races at Windsor and will run in one of these. Our eleven-year-old is showing plenty of zest and enthusiasm at home and we have put a lot of work into him and so it will be good to get him back on the track.
On Saturday, we have entries at Ascot, Haydock, Taunton and at Southwell on the all-weather while on Sunday we could be at Fakenham and Windsor. Entries include, Neon Moon, Thanksforthehelp and Phantomofthepoints to name just a few so keep checking the Daily News on the website for all the latest news on the stable runners.
Windbeneathmywings Update
Windbeneathmywings is back on the gallops and doing lots of steady cantering and swimming having recovered well from his injury. The aim is certainly Cheltenham in March but we will know more as we gradually increase his work in the coming weeks and we will be guided by him. To run in the Supreme novices hurdle he has to have one run in a hurdle race before then because the rules have changed so it is a tight time wise but we are hopeful. There is Aintree and Punchestown to look forward to as well in the spring and all we can say is he is progressing as much as we hoped for at this stage.
2026 Weather
As we know, January 2026 has started with cold weather but it is always interesting to look back on the last twelve months. In 2025, we had 124 days of rain and 989mm in total rainfall. In 2024, we had 173 days of rain with 1319mm falling so as you can see, 2025 was quite a bit drier than the previous year. We did have 194.5mm of rain in December this time which was a lot more than 12 months ago, indeed it was actually the wettest December we have recorded here at Pond House in over 25 years so it is funny how it all works out! January 2025 was quite a wet month and while this year started with freezing temperatures, the rain has come in the last few days and looks set to continue for the coming days. Who knows what 2026 will hold weather wise but there is one thing for sure, we will be talking about it!
