Team in Good Form

         Royal Mer Winner at Wincanton 

It was another good Saturday for the team with a double at Wincanton thanks to Eton Mes and Royal Mer.  It was also a first professional double for our young conditional jockey Rian Corcoran who his riding well and full of confidence at the moment.

Eton Mes followed up his handicap debut win at Uttoxeter with a nice performance to win the opening contest on the Wincanton card.  He travelled and jumped very well and took up the running approaching the last hurdle which he jumped with his ears pricked and scored nicely in the end.  He has grown in confidence with each of his starts over hurdle and it is amazing what a win can do as this was his most polished performance to date.  He won this race off a rating of 105 and he is likely to run again at Ffos Las on Friday as he escapes a penalty for this win as it was a conditional jockeys race.  I would hope he will take a lot of beating on Friday.

           Eton Mes Winner at Wincanton 

Royal Mer brought up the Wincanton double and it was a poignant success for a few reasons.  Royal Mer was claimed by former owner Sam Sutton from France and he won five times in his colours for us in Britain but his last success was nearly two years ago.  Sam sadly passed away last October following a short illness at a young age.  I bought Royal Mer off his family and he now carries the colours of Somerset Racing who have a long and successful relationship here at Pond House.  They are a small, relatively local group of owners who are expertly managed by head man Richard Wilkin.  The Somerset Racing colours were formally worn by the horse Itacare who was successful over hurdles with us.  When he seemed not to be enjoying his racing under rules, he was given to the Corcoran family to go point to pointing.  He went on to give Rian his first winner in that sphere and won a total of four races carrying the Somerset Racing silks for Rian that season and really got him going.  Rian has come a long way in a short time in his riding career and it was lovely he could ride a winner under rules in these colours which hold a special place in everyone’s hearts.  Itacare is now retired from racing and is proving to be very adept at both dressage and show jumping with Rian’s younger sister, Niamh in the saddle.

There was a heart-warming run from Gericault Roque on Saturday as well to finish second in the big handicap chase at Ascot.  The team has put a lot of work into our ten-year-old who has spent a lot of time in the swimming pool in recent months!  He has always been a very good horse but unfortunately for us, he picked up a tendon injury when finishing third in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in November 2022.  This was only his fourth run since then and after not really coping with the Windsor track on his seasonal appearance last time he showed us what he can really do and ran a cracker, galloping all the way to the line and showing all his resilience and heart on Saturday.  It is true with the saying, form is temporary, class is permanent.  He seems to have come out of the race well and fingers crossed he will continue to do so in the coming days.  He likely to have a few entries at Cheltenham next month and all being well he will go there.

Jurancon was disappointing at Ascot but did not scope right after the race so at least we have a reason for that and Thanksforthehelp ran okay to be fifth up at Haydock.

Way of Stars ran a nice race to be second on just his second start over hurdles at Taunton last Thursday, confirming the promise of his initial start at Exeter.  He basically had the race won before being caught on the line by a fast finisher who came over the top.  He lost nothing in defeat and will be winning over hurdles soon. 

This Week

It is a quiet start to this week with our first runner coming at Southwell on Wednesday.  Givehimthehonour runs in the three-mile handicap chase with Jack Tudor on board.  He is handicapped to run okay and does have to form in the book to be competitive in this race but needs to bounce back from a poor run last time.

Sandown must pass a Monday inspection for racing to go ahead on Thursday so we may have to wait until Friday for our next runners this week.  Eton Mes is likely to bid for a follow up success from Wincanton at Ffos Las while Gold in the Rivers, who won at Market Rasen last time, is also a likely starter in the three-mile handicap hurdle.  A little closer to home, Itseemslikeit could run in the novice’s handicap chase at Exeter on Friday.  He disappointed at Newbury last time but Jack Tudor looked after him that day and he seems in good form at home and will love conditions. 

We don’t have lots of entries over the weekend but do a have a few on Saturday while on Sunday, Phantomofthepoints has an entry in the National Spirit hurdle at Fontwell.  He put in a career best to win at Warwick earlier this month and while this race will be tougher, he might well take his chance.

The horses are in good form at present with six winners form our last 20 runners at a 30% strike rate, long may it continue!

February Half Term

My children are on half term this week and so my son Jack is being put to work and riding out!  He enjoys riding a couple of lots before exercising his pony with the countdown on to his next race at Charlton Horthorne in early March.

This week we have a visit from a group of children to see the yard organised by Exeter racecourse where they get a behind the scenes look at all what goes on at home.  We will probably get them all on the equicisor and see if we have any aspiring jockeys amongst them!  

Cheltenham Festival Handicap Entries

On Tuesday this week all the handicap entries are made for this year’s Cheltenham Festival as it is in three weeks on Tuesday that the action gets underway.  We will not have lots of entries but Gericault Roque will be entered in the Ultima, Kim Muir and National Hunt novice’s chases.  Turenne and new recruit Cinammon Coco will have an entry in the Fred Winter juvenile handicap hurdle.  Kingston Queen was entered last week in the mare’s novices hurdle and will either run there or will have also an entry at Kelso in a valuable novice event so we will keep our options open see what the weather is doing a bit closer to the time.

Cheltenham Festival Marquee

We are now sold out on Tuesday in our Cheltenham Festival Hospitality Marquee but do have spaces available on the other days.  The marquee has a great location not too far from the paddock or the shopping village and provides a seat at a table for the day and somewhere to get away from the busy hustle and bustle.  There is easy access to food and a bar and betting and David runs through the day’s card and gives tips along with a celebrity guest at about 12 noon.  If you would like some further information about our facility or to buy a ticket, please do get in touch, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Point to Point Update

The point to point fixtures continue to be decimated by the weather which is not making things easy for everyone involved.  We are sitting tight with our very own Ben Lilly for now until we have a drier spell but hopefully there will be action at Badbury Rings this coming Sunday.  The course is based on a chalky surface so it does mean it is drier there than most places and it should be relatively nice ground there all things considered so I am sure they will get plenty of entries and hopefully all our jockeys will be in action.