- Friday, 16 January 2015 08:23
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
With Musselburgh passing an early morning inspection, there are three meetings taking place this afternoon. The Scottish track hosts the only jumps card of the day while there are two all-weather flat meetings from Lingfield and Wolverhampton. There are seven races at Lingfield, although ironically enough the one with the most prize money has attracted the fewest runners. The conditions stakes could end up with just three participants, while the three 51-65 handicaps have attracted a combined total of 38 runners - it would seem obvious that trainers do not want these conditions races.
- Thursday, 15 January 2015 08:39
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It was certainly a day to remember yesterday at Newbury as stable jockey Tom Scudamore reached his fastest ever 100 winners and David recorded a double courtesy of Brook and Smiles For Miles. Brook (pictured above) is owned by the "Pipe Dreaming Ladies" and no joke, they must be among the noisiest group of owners I have ever met! In all seriousness though, it would be wonderful if all owners shared their infectious enthusiasm for their horses and the sport. They were even celebrating with champagne before the race, while afterwards they made their way to the Royal Box for refills - I bet the Queen was wondering who on earth was making all the noise in her box! Fortunately they all had drivers, otherwise I don't think they would have made it home.
- Wednesday, 14 January 2015 08:27
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
There are now only three meetings taking place this afternoon following the abandonment of Newcastle's National Hunt fixture due to frost. That leaves us with a jumps card from Newbury and two all-weather flat fixtures from Lingfield and Kempton. I will be flying off to Newbury today with David, although to be honest I am not much looking forward to the flight...I have never been great with heights and the weather isn't really conducive to a smooth trip! I drove through a blizzard on Telegraph Hill (just outside of Exeter racecourse) and if Newbury has had any of that the ground is going to be extremely testing for all of the horses. The stable has six runners today; Brook, Good Value and Classical Art all run in the juvenile hurdle, while All Force Majeure, Smiles For Miles (pictured above) and Chic Theatre make up the rest of our representatives.
- Tuesday, 13 January 2015 08:44
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
There are just two meetings taking place this afternoon with a jumps card at Fakenham and an all-weather flat meeting at Southwell. The stable has one runner at Fakenham; Low Key who takes in the maiden hurdle. Our gelding was rated 82 on the level and was last seen winning a lady amateur riders race on soft ground at Newbury by a wide margin. It would appear that this is potentially one of the best maiden hurdles ever staged at the track - John Ferguson's Zip Top was second to Camelot in the Racing Post Trophy as a two year old and attained a rating of 110 on the level, while James Fanshawe's Shewaiman contested the Ascot Gold Cup last year and was rated 95 on the flat. Even so, I still expect a bold show from Low Key and stable jockey Tom Scudamore is in the saddle.
- Monday, 12 January 2015 09:16
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It is a quiet start to the day with just two meetings taking place - a National Hunt fixture from Plumpton and an all-weather flat meeting from Wolverhampton. Ayr has already been abandoned due to storm damage caused by unseasonably high winds. The stable has no runners this afternoon, although stable jockey Tom Scudamore heads to Plumpton for a couple of rides for David Bridgwater. Scu may even have had a spot of Sunday lunch yesterday as one of his mounts, Bravo Piquet carries the welter burden of 12-5 - it looks to have a decent chance to boot.
- Saturday, 10 January 2015 12:04
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It is a quiet day today with just two meetings taking place at Kelso over the sticks and Chelmsford on the all-weather. The stable has just one runner, Sefton Chase winner Poole Master (pictured above) who takes part in the valuable veterans' chase. At ten years of age he is the youngest competitor in the field so let's hope that his youth proves advantageous! With snow forecast overnight, let's hope that the meeting is able to go ahead without any problems. Conor O'Farrell makes the long journey north - I hope it is worthwhile! Meanwhile, Chelmsford host their first meetings since it's reincarnation from the old Great Leighs track. It seems to me that everyone wants an all-weather track although I am not quite sure why. At least Chelmsford should be applauded for putting on some decent prize money.
- Saturday, 10 January 2015 08:12
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with three jumps cards from Warwick, Kempton and Wetherby as well as an all-weather flat fixture from Lingfield. It is a busy day for the stable with Race To Glory, Dell' Arca (pictured above), Heath Hunter, Shotavodka and Swing Bowler at Kempton and Top Wood and George Herbert representing the stable at Warwick. David is three-handed in the Lanzarote Hurdle and despite there being some fancy prices among them, a case could be made for all of them. There are also a couple of interesting new ones among those, including Race To Glory who had some fair form on the flat - he seemed to stay well on the level, something that will augur well for today after plenty more overnight rain. George Herbert makes his racecourse debut in the nine runner bumper at Warwick - there isn't an awful lot to go on with all nine of them having their first starts. It will be a case of whoever handles the ground best.
