No Rest For The Wicked!

It was a busy week, with me going off to do my duty with our runners at Punchestown, where both Weekend Millionair and The Tracey Shuffle ran very well to reach the frame, while my mother and father travelled over to France to see Big Occasion and Taratata Sivola in action at Auteuil.

A final tally of 101 was a very pleasing total, especially when you consider the ultra-competitive nature of the sport these days.  There were a number of notable highlights to reflect upon – most notably, the ill-fated Great Endeavour (pictured left) giving me a first winner in the Paddy Power Gold Cup (Grade 3) at Cheltenham’s November meeting.  He produced a great performance that day to win convincingly and we are still coming to terms with his loss earlier in the month while turned out in a field at Timmy Murphy’s during his summer break.

Dynaste showed himself to be a high class hurdler when bolting up in the Fixed Brush Hurdle (Listed) at Haydock and ran a couple of huge races in defeat by Big Buck’s afterwards.  He is such a fluent hurdler that I cannot wait to see him in action over fences next season – he is really one to look forward to.

Grands Crus (pictured right) won the Grade One chase that his talent so richly deserves when winning the Feltham Chase at Newbury on Boxing Day in good style from Silviniaco Conti and Bobs Worth.  Sadly he could not confirm the form with the third at Cheltenham come March, but subsequent tests showed that he was not 100% right and you cannot be anything other than spot-on come the Festival if you wish to succeed.  Nevertheless, he is still only young and there is plenty of time for him to prove this running all wrong.

I was very proud to bring Salut Flo back for the big day in tip-top form when running away with the Byrne Group Plate (Grade 3) at the Festival.  His run at the Prestbury course in December (when a shuddering error cost him his chance) had not been an ideal preparation, but his owner Allan Stennett was very patient and I was delighted to greet my seventh Cheltenham Festival winner.  He is another with a relatively low mileage that I am sure will continue to progress.

Anyway, there is no rest for the wicked and sure as night follows day, the new jumps season started on Sunday at Ludlow (with Wetherby abandoned due to waterlogging).  The current inclement weather means that racing for the remainder of the week remains uncertain – we will have a couple of runners at Exeter if it passes an 8am inspection, while we also have entries at Southwell, Hereford, Fontwell, Bangor, Hexham (where decent hurdler Shoegazer could make his chasing bow) and Uttoxeter.

Meanwhille globe-trotting amateur jockey Mikey Ennis is off to Germany for the latest round of the amateur Fegentri championship – Chester will let you know how he gets on later in the week and he will also be able to give you details of all the stables runners.

There is plenty to look forward to this coming season with a good mix of established stars and bright young talent – I hope that you enjoy following it with us.