- Monday, 28 January 2013 08:12
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Over the weekend I thought that Battle Group ran a sound race to finish third at Cheltenham on Saturday on what was very testing ground. He has always possessed plenty of ability and could yet pop up in a decent contest despite yet having won over fences. Shoegazer ran a decent race in a very competitive handicap chase, just emptying out after the last - it looked to me as though he was just found out over this trip by the heavy going. Of course the big disappointment of the weekend was Grands Crus in the Argento Chase, the favourite pulling up four out - I am sure he will be seen to better effect on a sounder surface and it is far too early to write him off just yet.
- Sunday, 27 January 2013 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It's my birthday (and I'll cry if I want to - you would cry too if you were as old as me!). I went out for a nice meal with my wife Jane, Martin and Carol on Thursday evening and we had a lovely time...I keep reminding Martin that I will never be as old as him and as you can see from the picture above, I've still got it (whatever it may be?!).
- Saturday, 26 January 2013 08:08
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It should be a thrilling day's racing with Cheltenham getting the go-ahead for their Trials meeting this afternoon and I will be sat firmly in front of the television as there are four televised races on Channel 4. The stable has five runners at the Prestbury Park track - Battle Group, Shoegazer, Grands Crus, His Excellency and The Pier. Obviously Grands Crus is the really interesting one in the Argento Chase, a recognised Gold Cup trial. His task has been made somewhat easier by the defection this morning of Tidal Bay, although it is still a high quality race. Grands Crus should be sharper than when competing in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day and if back to his best he would be a threat to them all. There are also meetings taking place at Lingfield and Wolverhampton on the all-weather this afternoon.
- Friday, 25 January 2013 08:11
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
There is already some good news this morning as Cheltenham have passed their inspection this morning where the going is now officially soft. Clerk of the course Simon Claisse will take another look tomorrow morning when holding a precautionary inspection at 7am. I don't suppose I can blame him - there is plenty of rain forecast over the next 24 hours and rising temperatures will mean plenty of flooding throughout the country as the ice thaws. The fact that they are optimistic is excellent - we really need a top class jumps meeting like this to take place on a Saturday.
- Thursday, 24 January 2013 08:22
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Unfortunately following yesterday's National Hunt fixture at Ayr, it is back to being a blank jumps day today, although we do have two all-weather flat meetings at Kempton and Lingfield to keep us entertained. The stable has one runner, Purple 'N Gold who returns to the scene of his latest success in the 6.35pm race at Kempton tonight - he steps up a couple of furlongs in trip but shapes as though it shouldn't be a problem and he will be partnered by young Willy Twiston-Davies who takes a handy 5lbs off his back.
- Wednesday, 23 January 2013 08:25
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
The Chain Gang!
It snowed heavily at Pond House from 2pm yesterday afternoon and we have about 5" of snow on the ground this morning! The gallops were covered but the snow still had to be cleared from on top and our snow clearing team are pictured above! They did a great job and click on the read more link below to see the result of their hard work which meant the gallops were open for use as usual. Thankfully our lorry left for Ayr yesterday lunchtime and made an over night stop at Carlisle. Racing at Ayr is now subject to at 10.45am inspection so fingers crossed racing will take place. Racing is on however at Lingfield and Kempton but most of the tracks did have a bit of snow overnight. Further down the road from Pond House there was snow in Torbay and the traffic came to a standstill at one point! Mind you, we have yet to see any snow in Brixham as yet! David has three runners at Ayr this afternoon, weather permitting. Kings Palace is making his hurdles debut after two very nice runs in bumpers. Top Wood was a good second at Haydock last time out and is looking to go one better this afternoon while our third runner, Consigliere is also loking to do the same after finishing runner up at Wincanton last time. All three should handle the soft ground and we are hopeful they will all run well.
- Tuesday, 22 January 2013 08:21
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
After Lingfield passed their inspection this morning, we have two all-weather meetings on the level to look forward to at Wolverhampton and Lingfield. Sadly once again it is a blank day for jump racing although there is a remote chance that both Ayr and Exeter could go ahead tomorrow. Ayr was raceable yesterday while Exeter have snow on the track but it is raining at present and temperatures are fairly mild - let's just hope there is no further snow or freezing temperatures tonight.
