- Wednesday, 11 May 2016 07:34
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I was saddened to see that Comply Or Die has passed away at the age of 17. I am sure most of you will remember him giving David the highlight of his career when winning the 2008 Aintree Grand National under Timmy Murphy. I saw him participating in parades at both Cheltenham and Aintree over the last couple of months and he was looking fantastic, in fact Gerry Supple rode him around the parade ring at Aintree with some of the other Grand National winners from previous years. He gave David a great start to his career and fulfilled a long held ambition of late owner David Johnson.
- Tuesday, 10 May 2016 07:12
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
The fog was quite thick this morning presenting a proper murky start to the day. Hopefully it will lift and leave us a nice, bright sunny day, although judging by the forecast I am not so sure! It was a frustrating evening for the Pond House team last night as David looks to embark on his second thousand winners as both of our runners finished second at Towcester. Perspicace looked all over the winner for the majority of the race until making a mess of the last hurdle and idling in front, only to be caught right on the line. He was conceding 11lbs to the winner so it probably wasn't a bad performance. Meanwhile Brook also finished second, just seeming to come up against a better handicapped horse in Orbys Man. Still, they were both good runs and like David said in his column this week, at least it confirms the well being of the yard.
- Monday, 09 May 2016 07:36
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It was a good weekend for the yard with Purple 'N Gold (pictured above) scoring at Haydock in the 2m3f handicap chase. It was certainly a good effort under top weight from a mark of 130 and furthermore he was David's 1000th winner under rules. Congratulations on a great achievement. Dell' Arca also ran a good race earlier in the day, finishing fourth in the long distance handicap hurdle from a mark of 135 - this was his best effort in a while and he should be capable of winning from this sort of rating.
- Saturday, 07 May 2016 10:00
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
We have just two meetings this afternoon and they are both jumps cards with the action coming from Plumpton and Ludlow. The stable runs Iniciar (pictured above) at Ludlow in the 3.05pm and he has been in good form, winning on his penultimate start before finishing third last time. The horses that finished either side of him have run creditably since so the form stacks up well and Daryl Jacob is in the saddle. Meanwhile, Tom Scudamore, Michael Heard and David Noonan all head off to Plumpton so it looks like a day out for our jockeys - let's hope they have the nous to share the same car! If you have never been to Plumpton before it is well worth a visit - you can catch a train from London and it stops on the track, you just just walk across the middle...not even I could get lost!
- Saturday, 07 May 2016 07:37
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
There are seven meetings taking place this afternoon with flat cards from Lingfield, Ascot, Nottingham and Thirsk as well as a mixed card from Haydock and jump fixtures from Warwick and Hexham so there is a bit of something for everybody. David has four runners at Haydock today; Taj Badalandabad, Dell' Arca, Doctor Harper and Purple 'N Gold. Dell' Arca was fourth in a competitive handicap at Sandown last time out, not beaten that far and the step up in trip could help him. He has claims at odds of around 10/1 - a comment that also applies to our other runner Taj Badalandabad who won last time out at Ascot. He is higher in the weights today but is progressive and has an excellent strike rate (6 from 11 under rules) and has conditional jockey Michael Heard in the saddle once again.
- Friday, 06 May 2016 07:36
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
If ever a horse deserved to win a race then Starchitect had to be it. On his last three starts since joining the Pond House team, he has finished close up in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, the County Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Alder Hey Hurdle at Aintree, some of the most competitive handicap hurdles in the country. Yesterday he was winning at Newton Abbot from a mark of 143 and was conceding weight to all of his rivals. He saw out the longer trip in good style under a positive ride from Tom Scudamore and he looks sure to make a very nice chaser in time although it sounds like David is planning to return him to the level in the short term and he could run at Salisbury at the end of the month.
- Thursday, 05 May 2016 07:21
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
We are spoiled for choice again today as there are another five meetings taking place. The action comes from Newton Abbot, Wincanton, Uttoxeter and Carlisle over the sticks, while it is day two of Chester's Cup meeting on the level. What a fabulous piece of race planning to have Newton Abbot and Wincanton on the same day! I know that one is an evening meeting, but people will still struggle to get between the two. I am sure there are plenty of people who would have gone to both had they been on different days. David has runners at both meetings today and he runs Starchitect in the valuable 2m5 1/2f handicap hurdle at Newton Abbot. He has run three cracking races for us since joining the Pond House team - he was second in the Betfair Hurdle, a close fifth in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham and third at Aintree last time. The trouble is that he keeps creeping up the weights despite not winning. He looks well worth a try at this trip and is the 5/1 favourite in the Post (who also nap him). He looks to have leading claims in the hands of Tom Scudamore.
