- Monday, 17 September 2012 14:51
- Written by David Pipe
I am of course only joking and I understand that they had a wonderful time in the company of James and Jean Potter who have a couple of horses here at Pond House. The weather was kind and the seas were calm and serene – the ship was luxurious and they enjoyed the food and drink…I would imagine that it won’t be long before they are booking up for next year!
Talking of holidays, travelling head lad Craig Wylie and assistant Gerry Supple left for Ireland this morning with our Listowel runners. Premier Dane will take in the Kerry National on Wednesday and The Pier will run in a two mile handicap hurdle on Thursday. Both Craig and Gerry have tried to convince me that it is going to be all work, work, work while they were out there, but I have experienced the Irish hospitality first hand so I don’t believe a word of it. It is a good job they will be coming back on Thursday – if they were there for the whole week, it really could get messy!
With the main protagonists standing their ground Premier Dane sneaks in the race on 9-10 – that is a handicap mark of 129 which looks reasonable enough, considering it is 5lbs higher than when winning over fences at Stratford on his penultimate start and 3lbs lower than when winning Newton Abbot’s valuable hurdle last time out. Poor old Tom Scudamore has been on notice for some time that he may have to do light aboard Premier Dane and I know that he has been working hard to keep his weight down. One or two agents have expressed surprise at his ability to do 9-10, although Tom will most definitely make the weight for a mount prominent in the markets for the big race. I think it will be worth his dieting.
It is never easy to travel horses to foreign countries and be successful although we are hopeful of our chances – they have obviously had plenty of rain in Ireland as the going at Listowel is currently described as heavy and that has to be a slight concern, although it was soft ground at Newton Abbot when Premier Dane recorded a personal best last time. We have enjoyed success in Ireland at Punchestown Festival and it would be great if we could replicate that success this week.
On the flat, I thought that Martial Law ran a promising race at Chester on Friday when a fast finishing third behind Countrywide Star in the two mile handicap. He was slowly away (never a good thing at Chester, even over marathon distances) and but for that I feel he would have finished an awful lot closer. This race was won by last year’s Cesarewitch winner Never Can Tell and I notice that this year’s winner is now the ante-post favourite for the famous Newmarket handicap. Martial Law looks as though he should have no trouble with the extra two furlongs of the Cesarewitch trip and he will meet the winner on 4lbs better terms next time – he will be left in at the next forfeit stage tomorrow (Tuesday) along with my other entries Beyond (seventh last year), Ashbrittle and Decoy.
Finally, I thought you might be interested to see some of what goes on behind the scenes at Pond House. This weekend we have had our equine dentists Stuart Huggan and Gary Waters down to tend to the teeth of the horses in the yard – it is a routine thing that we do as a matter of procedure totally free of charge to our owners. Afterall, much as with humans, it is vitally important to keep the horses mouths healthy. We need to ensure that there is no discomfort when eating as if the horses don’t chew their food properly, then they don’t digest it properly and therefore don’t get the goodness out of it. Not only that, it is also where all of the jockey’s control derives from when he is on board – I really can’t stress enough how important it is to keep their teeth healthy. If you click on the following link (or picture) you will see a video of Stuart in action and you will notice how the horse is not in the least bit bothered or discomforted during the procedure.
While there is a break in the jumps program I have taken the opportunity to grab a few days relaxation with Leanne and the children and will let you all know how it went upon my return.
