- Tuesday, 21 February 2012 17:32
- Written by David Pipe
Looking back, it was another good week with a handful of winners and many other notable performances. I was given the best possible Valentine’s present when The Tracey Shuffle bolted up at Ayr on Tuesday making the long trip up to Scotland worthwhile. Sadly I was not able to witness it first hand as I was at the Grand National weights luncheon, although I understand Racegoers were treated to a demonstration of the Tracey Shuffle by winning owner Sean Tracey. I am sure that it would have been worth the cost of admission alone and it could become one of those dance crazes like the moonwalk!
Massini’s Maguire (pictured right) once again rolled back the years at Ascot on Saturday with a fantastic performance in the Listed handicap chase under a determined ride from Tom Scudamore. He has been an amazing servant and is still very high class at the age of eleven. He would definitely have been worth his place in any Gold Cup line-up if he had not had any number of setbacks down the years. His victory is testament to his amazing guts, determination and will to win – he has only had three starts for us but is a great favourite in the yard and is a pleasure to have anything to do with.
From one veteran to another…Painter Man was another to produce a great performance to score at Wincanton on Saturday. Thanks go to Steve Kemp for his kind permission to use the picture (left). Painter Man was partnered by young Tom Bellamy who was riding only his fourth winner under rules. As such he is able to claim a very handy 10lbs when riding for the stable and is clearly very good value for that as he demonstrated with a cool ride that belied his years. These veteran’s races are an excellent idea as they give these old-timers a feasible chance of winning again – they are also well supported with very good prize money.
Fiulin completed a fabulous weekend for the yard when winning on his first start for the yard at Market Rasen on Sunday. Tom Scudamore gave him a good positive ride and he was always doing enough to score. He was formerly a high class flat stayer and had been highly tried over hurdles by previous connections. He showed a useful level of form here – the runner up had already produced some good efforts over hurdles, while the third home was rated 103 on the level. Hopefully this is a prelude to better things and he will certainly be receiving some entries at the Cheltenham Festival next month.
Of our Grand National favourite Junior, who ran over hurdles at Newbury last week, I wasn’t at all disheartened that he did not make the frame. A three mile hurdle at Newbury is very different from his eventual target of The Grand National and this outing (his first since Royal Ascot) will just blow away the cobwebs. He could also run at the Festival (in which he was a runaway winner of the Kim Muir in 2011) en route to Aintree.
The yard continued in good form at Carlisle on Monday with another winner courtesy of Big Occasion in the 2m4f novices’ hurdle. He put up a dour performance under 11-10 on testing ground on this stiff track – he has now scored on two of his three starts over hurdles and should continue to pay his way when stamina is at a premium.
This morning (Tuesday) we flung open the doors to Pond House to welcome the media for our annual Cheltenham Festival Press Day. Cheltenham racecourse organised the event and it was well attended by television and radio crews as well as newspaper journalists and bookmakers all keen to hear the latest news from Pond House (as you can see from the picture, right). We paraded ten of our leading candidates ahead of next month’s Festival and the obvious highlight judging by the buzz of anticipation among the thronging masses was the appearance of Grands Crus. Laid back as ever, he paraded with the minimum of fuss and gave the impression that he was still half asleep. Watching him in action, it is difficult to believe that he is the same horse that often takes such a fierce hold in his races.
We also paraded dual Cheltenham Festival hero Buena Vista (pictured left), last year’s Kim Muir winner and Grand National favourite Junior, Paddy Power Gold Cup winner Great Endeavour, World Hurdle entry Dynaste, as well as Kazlian, Fiulin, Our Father, Salut Flo and The Package.
The horses look an absolute picture and I couldn’t be more pleased with how things are progressing with three weeks to go until the biggest fixture on the jumps calendar. I will be on tenterhooks until then, as we have seen elsewhere how quickly things can go awry. There will be plenty of sleepless nights between now and then…not least owing to the arrival of my second child (due at the end of the month) – at least that will give me something else to keep me occupied other than Cheltenham!
