- Thursday, 16 April 2026 06:58
- Written by G Edwards
There is one jumps meeting today, a twilight fixture at Hereford but the stable does not have any runners. The first race is at 4.22pm and Rian Corcoran is in action in the lucky last and while Jack Tudor was back riding yesterday which was good to see, he does not have any booked rides today. On the flat we have the third day of Newmarket's Craven meeting and a fixture at Ripon while in Ireland there is a jumps racing at Limerick. A couple of horses caught my eye in Ireland, more so because of their breeding than anything else. In the opening mares maiden hurdle on the card, the favourite is a horse called Babyburn, a half sister to the stables mighty Ballyburn. She was too keen and disappointed in a bumper on her only start to date but she obviously shows ability as home as she is fancied to run well at home on her switch to hurdling if she settles better.
- Wednesday, 15 April 2026 07:03
- Written by G Edwards
Today there is just the one jumps meeting at Haydock which is the card moved from Cheltenham. There are some good races, not lots of runners but some quality horses although I am sure there would have been more runners should the ground have been a bit softer. The stable does not have any runners but Rian Corcoran is in action with two rides that have chances and Jack Tudor may be in action there as well but I am guessing he will once again be seeing how he feels this morning. He did not ride again at Newton Abbot yesterday following falls at the weekend and I believe he is just taking one day at a time. White Noise is favourite for the mares novices listed hurdle at 2.05pm, she of course won at the Cheltenham Festival last month and has form with our own Kingston Queen. She is 4/6 favourite for todays contest at 2.05pm and while I think she will win, today's race is over 2m5f. Speaking with jockey Tom Bellamy recently he thought two miles was her ideal trip but I guess around this track on forecast quicker ground she might well be okay.
- Tuesday, 14 April 2026 07:03
- Written by G Edwards
There are two jumps meetings today at Market Rasen and Newton Abbot but the stable does not have any runners. Rian Corcoran is in action at Newton Abbot and Jack Tudor is also supposed to be riding but I am not sure if he is today or not just yet. He is pretty sore after two falls at the weekend and did not ride again yesterday and missed out on a winner at Fakenham which was partnered by Sean Bowen. He went for some scans which thankfully came back clear so I guess he will just be seeing how he is feeling this morning before deciding if he rides or not. Taking a fall at anytime is never nice but with the ground a bit drier at the moment they have to hurt a bit more! These jockeys are made of tough stuff.
- Monday, 13 April 2026 07:01
- Written by G Edwards
It is a beautiful start to the day here at Pond House, sunny but cold and we had an overnight frost. I had to scrape the ice off my windscreen this morning. We had such warm weather last week but that is April weather for you, a mixture of everything which included April showers and a mixture of snow and hail here on Saturday! We start the new week with two jumps meetings at Hexham and Fakenham and two flat meetings at Leicester and Newcastle. The stable does not have any runners. Jack Tudor will hopefully be in action at Fakenham but he did stand down from his rides at Ffos Las yesterday as he was feeling quite sore. He had a fall in the National on Mr Vango and then had a further fall at Ffos Las yesterday. Hopefully nothing too serious and I haven't heard anything as yet about today about whether he is likely to ride or not but he looks to have a good chance of a winner at Fakenham if he is able to ride.
- Sunday, 12 April 2026 06:47
- Written by G Edwards
Vision De Maine runs at Ffos Las Today
There are two jumps meetings today at Ffos Las and Wincanton and we have runners at the first mentioned, Vision De Maine and River Run Free. They both run in the same race, the 4.50pm handicap chase over three miles and Jack Tudor is on board Vision De Maine while River Run Free is partnered by Rian Corcoran. Both horses have to bounce back from disappointing runs last time but I think they will today. Both horses wore blinkers last time and Vision De Maine travelled well in his race at Market Rasen, perhaps too well before getting a bit stuck in the soft ground while River Run Free never 'faced' his blinkers and basically never went a yard on his last start at Leicester. Both horses have cheek pieces today instead of blinkers which should suit and Vision De Maine has a tongue strap back on which he has not had in his last two starts. There is rain forecast at Ffos Las which may not suit Vision De Maine so we will have to see how much they get and decide if he runs or not. Typically, we planned to run here because the ground is generally safe and softer than most places but we would not mind if they did not get the forecast rain on this occasion - perhaps they could send it on to some of the other courses who are desperately in need of it!
- Saturday, 11 April 2026 06:55
- Written by G Edwards
We have the Grand National to look forward to at 4pm today and it looks an open high class renewal this year. I am Maximus heads the betting and the former winner and runner up looks to have a very good chance again for Paul Townend and J P McManus. My selection for the race runs in the green and gold colours and comes in the form of recent Cheltenham Festival winner Johnnywho but I really think you could make a case for a lot of the horses in the line up this year. There was good news for jockey Tom Bellamy this morning, he has had a strange week. He has gone from riding last years winner Nick Rockett to having no ride when that one was made a non-runner to now riding Marble Sands in the big race. He replaces Kielan Woods on Marble Sands. Kielan unfortunately had a fall at Fontwell on Thursday and is not able to ride today. We have a work Sweepstake for the Grand National and the winner takes all so we will have to see who wins this later!
- Friday, 10 April 2026 07:04
- Written by G Edwards
Jack Tudor Taunton Double
I thought it was a great day of racing action up at Aintree yesterday on ground that looked quite 'dead' and a bit hard work which is what can happen when they have been plenty of watering. What it does mean however that the ground is safe and there were some good races. Lulamba got rid of Nico De Boinville mid-race which left the door open for Kocktail Divin to win while Nico wasn't down in the dumps for long with Jango Baie winning the Aintree Bowl impressively. Barton Snow was again very impressive in the Foxhunters and was given a very cool ride by amateur jockey Henry Crowe. Brighterdaysahead showed her class in the Aintree hurdle and capped a fine day for Gordon Elliott. At Taunton, Jack Tudor rode a nice double particularly impressing with his horsemanship skills in the bumper. The Olly Murphy trained gelding got rid of Jack on the way to the start and then was very green during the race but Jack did a great job in getting him to win.
