- Tuesday, 17 September 2013 07:37
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
The headlines in the racing papers today are unsurprisingly dominated by the memorial service yesterday of legendary trainer Sir Henry Cecil. MCP was one of more than a thousand people who travelled to Ely Cathedral to join in the celebration of his life. I was particularly amused to read of Lord Teddy Grimthorpe's recollections of the great man, 'millions loved him without ever having the great fortune of meeting him'. I was one of the lucky ones that did get to meet Henry - I stayed for a weekend at Warren Place and it was a weekend I will never forget.
- Monday, 16 September 2013 07:08
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
This afternoon we have three flat meetings to look forward to at Musselburgh, Brighton and Wolverhampton - the prize money for those three cards combined comes to £96,000, while over in Ireland their mixed card at Listowel offers £107,000! I must be missing something, a bit like the prize money in this country! Our only runner of the day yesterday at Bath, Beyond proved disappointing so it is back to the drawing board with him. With no jumps fixtures taking place today, the stable does not have any runners.
- Sunday, 15 September 2013 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
This afternoon there are just two flat cards to look forward to at Bath and Ffos Las. The stable has one runner at Bath, Beyond who goes in the 2.40pm race over the marathon flat trip of 2m1f. He has to defy top weight of 10-2 (less Willie Twiston-Davies' 3lbs claim) and a couple of disappointing recent runs. Our six year old was victorious on the flat at Salisbury on his penultimate start on the level and hopefully this quicker ground will help him recapture that sort of form.
- Saturday, 14 September 2013 07:14
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Sadly it was a very different performance from Diamond's Return at Bangor yesterday from the effort he produced at Uttoxeter on Wednesday. According to jockey Conor O'Farrell he ran flat and the race could have come too soon after his success 48 hours earlier. It will be interesting to see what the handicapper does with him after this lacklustre effort.
- Friday, 13 September 2013 07:07
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Diamonds Return
Diamonds Return runs again today at Bangor after winning at Uttoxeter two days ago. The step up to three miles seemed to bring about improvement as he went from last to first in that race and he runs here with a seven pound penalty before the handicapper has his say. Conor rides him for his father and he gave him a peach of a ride. This is a slightly better race but he seems to have come out of the Uttoxeter race really well which is why we have decided to run him again. A similar level of form should see him go well this afternoon. As well as the one jumps meeting there are three on the flat today. There is racing at Doncaster, Sandown and Wolverhampton.
- Thursday, 12 September 2013 07:21
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
I thought that Conor O'Farrell gave Diamond's Return a cracking hold-up ride at Uttoxeter yesterday afternoon. Diamond's Return looked to have plenty to do for much of the race but his young jockey remained as cool as ice and produced him with a beautifully timed run at the last hurdle to win cosily by 2 1/2 lengths. The step up to three miles seemed to suit the gelding well and I hear that he could turn out again at Bangor tomorrow under a penalty. His effort yesterday looked like a copybook Richard Hughes or Timmy Murphy waiting ride...it really was that good.
- Wednesday, 11 September 2013 07:23
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
This afternoon we have four meetings to look forward to - three on the flat at Doncaster, Carlisle and Kempton as well as a meeting over jumps at Uttoxeter. The stable has one runner at Uttoxeter this afternoon, Diamonds Return who is top weight in the three mile handicap hurdle at 4.25pm. It's a step up in trip for our nine year old who produced his best run for some time when third at Ffos Las last time out. He won three races on the spin last summer but is still paying for it now, as he is 14lbs higher than his last winning mark. He has shown he can still be competitive from this mark, let's hope the longer trip can bring about a bit of further improvement.
