- Tuesday, 03 July 2012 06:55
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
- Monday, 02 July 2012 07:12
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It was good to see Camelot follow up his facile Epsom Derby success with victory in the Irish equivalent on Saturday afternoon at the Curragh. It was harder work this time around with Aidan O'Brien's colt having to dig deep to beat Born To Sea and there were certainly signs that his Epsom run and the softer ground had perhaps caught up with him. He will now be given a rest until the St Leger in September and may just have a racecourse gallop before running at Doncaster. If he were to be successful there, he would be the first colt to complete the Triple Crown since Nijinsky in 1970...that would be a fantastic achievement and would certainly add lustre to the beleaguered Classic.
- Saturday, 30 June 2012 07:26
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
On Khee (left) - on the gallops earlier this year!
Today there are three meetings across the country, two on the flat at Windsor and Salisbuy and a jumps card at Uttoxeter. The stable does not have any runners but it is a good card at Uttoxeter which includes the John Smiths Summer Cup, a listed handicap chase worth £20,000. This race has attracted a field of 16 runners and Peter Bowen looks like he could have a great chance of landing the prize with two fancied runners. It is not hard to believe with the weather so random at the moment but it just shows the extremes with Newcatsle being waterlogged and racing nearly abandoned yesterday, Uttoxeter say they could water the ground if necessary!
David has one runner on the flat at Windsor tomorrow evening, On Khee. She has been very unlucky in a couple of hurdle races this winter but she is in fine form at home and we hope she runs well carrying top weight tomorrow.
- Saturday, 30 June 2012 06:54
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Today is another Saturday without any jumps racing but there are six flat cards at Chester, Doncaster, Lingfield, Newcastle, Newmarket and Windsor. There is jumps racing at Uttoxeter tomorrow but David does not have any runners. The photo in yesterdays Racing Post of Newcastle showed the course under water and it reminded me of a story of a good few years ago. MCP and and Bob Wheatly went up to Newcastle with Baron Blakeney for the Northumberland Plate. Baron needed heavy ground so MCP and Bob did a rain dance and the heavens opened up. It actually raiend so much that the track got waterlogged and the meeting was called off! It was a long way home, especially in those days! I am pleased to report the good news is that the Newcastle course has passed its morning inspection and racing goes ahead. It looked as though it was going to be odds against racing taking place but miracles do happen and althought the course in heavy it is raceable and not waterlogged.
- Friday, 29 June 2012 07:22
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Today there are five flat meetings at Doncaster, Folkestone, Musselburgh, Chester and Newmarket. Some of the ground is given as good to firm and some as heavy which just highlights the randowm weather we are having across the UK at the moment. They have had some terrible flooding up North and the Newcastle track is under a foot of water and their biggest day of the year with the card featuring the Northumberland Plate on Saturday is under threat. The runners were at the start for the 4pm raceyesterday when the storm started and the horses were called back to the stables and the meeting was abandoned. The pictures on the news this morning from that part of the country look terrible and we are lucky that we only had 3mm of rain and some sunshine at Pond House! There is no jumping action either today or tomorrow with the next being on Sunday at Uttoxeter where David has a few entered so check back here tomorrow for more news of the stable runners.
- Thursday, 28 June 2012 06:59
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Too Generous
David's horses ran well at Worcester yesterday, especially a great first ever run from Too Generous in the mares bumper. Our four year old dead heated with the favourite Blue Article after we looked beaten two furlongs out and looked sure to finish second but Tom Scu kept at our filly and she responded well. She was very game and in another couple of strides she would have won the race outright. She can only improve for the experience and she is a lovely prospect to look forward to over hurdles as she has already done some schooling at home and shown a good aptitude for the jumping game. Beattie Green went up twelve pounds for winning a seller on her latest start and the handicapper completely over reacted and I hope he now has a look at her rating and drops her quite a few pounds after she was disappointing yesterday. Battle Group ran a funny race. He looked like winning turning in to the straight but did not give Tom Scu a lot of help after that and finished second. He will win but he is the only one that knows when!
- Wednesday, 27 June 2012 07:05
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Battle Group after finishing 4th at the Cheltenham Festival
There are five meetings today, four on the flat at Carlisle, Bath, Salisbury and Kempton and a jumps card at Worcester. The stable has lots of entries at Worcester and David is going to have a busy day! Battle Group kicks off proceeding in the novice chase. He is extremely talented but a little quirky and if he puts his best foot forward this afternoon he should hopefully win. He is very clever and does know what this racing game is all about if you know what I mean! Soulard runs in the handicap chase while Too Generous is making her racecourse debut in the Bumper. She works well at home but it does look a fairly competitive little race. Beattie Green runs in a handicap hurdle and the handicapper put her up twelve pounds for winning a seller on her latest start which seems a little harsh. Ladyvie runs in another hurdle race after finishing third last time out at Towcester, she was the winner of a chase on her penultimate start and is still looking for her first win over hurdle. UPDATE: Ladyvie is now a non-runner. Royal Peak is also making his racecourse debut in the maiden hurdle while Qulinton runs in the final race of the day. He ran well at the course last time out and again has Tom Scu in the saddle.
