- Sunday, 15 January 2012 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
I am not sure how welcome trainer Andrew Balding will be when (or if) he ever goes back to Wolverhampton racecourse. He had runners at the track earlier in the week and then posted on social networking site Facebook that "the best part of going racing at Wolverhampton is leaving!". I know that it is not the most glamorous track in the world but they were always very helpful to us when MCP was training. We would often take some horses there to gallop, although I am not sure David will want reminding of that too much - he came off one and was injured - I don't think it could have been too bad though as he didn't want the boot cutting off by the medics!
- Saturday, 14 January 2012 08:45
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It has been a cold night and it is certainly crisp this morning as you can see from the picture of the gallops. Wetherby have obviously suffered from the dropping temperatures and have had to abandon this afternoon's fixture, while Kempton are holding a second inspection at 10am ahead of their Lanzarote fixture.
It looks like a typically competitive Saturday afternoon's racing and the yard is represented at Kempton and Warwick with plenty of runners. Tom Scudamore will be aboard Decoy, a winner at Cheltenham on his penultimate start is favourite for the Lanzarote hurdle at Kempton where he is joined by dual Festival winner Buena Vista - it is a twenty runner handicap and the bookies will bet a big price the field. Dream Esteem is our other runner at Kempton and she makes her seasonal reappearance after a break of around 300 days - she was running consistently well when last seen and will be partnered by Tom Scudamore.
- Friday, 13 January 2012 08:37
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
The stable has just the one runner this afternoon - Clever Dick participates in the conditional jockey's handicap hurdle at Huntingdon at 12.50pm and Conor O'Farrell takes the ride. Let's hope that he has better luck than our North Yorkshire National runner Shaking Hands who was sent off favourite for the marathon handicap at Catterick yesterday only to unseat Tom Scudamore at the first. I am pleased to report that both horse and jockey are fine this morning.
- Thursday, 12 January 2012 08:10
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Shotavodka proved to be the best of the stable's runners yesterday when just getting run out of the bumper at Doncaster in the final strides to be beaten the minimum distance of a nose by Hi George. He showed a good turn of foot entering the straight and while it is agonising to be beaten in such circumstances, it was clearly a decent performance trying to concede 19lbs to the winner and he should be more than capable of winning similar and looks a sure-fire winner when switched to obstacles.
- Wednesday, 11 January 2012 08:17
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Kazlian was impressive when winning as he pleased at Leicester yesterday afternoon. It is difficult to get a handle on the value of the form as there were plenty of very good ex-flat horses in the line-up who are yet to really show the same level of form over timber. Even so, he could do no more than win comfortably - he certainly handles the testing going well although I don't see any reason why he shouldn't handle better ground. The thing that impressed me was that his jumping has become more fluent with each race and he might well have to step up in grade now.
- Tuesday, 10 January 2012 08:48
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
- Monday, 09 January 2012 08:35
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Consigliere en-route to victory at Wincanton
Picture by kind permission of Steven Kemp
*Glassawine, Non-runner 4.10pm Taunton*
It was another excellent weekend for the yard with a double at Wincanton on Saturday, followed by another success at Hereford on Sunday. It was good to see Consigliere back in the winner's enclosure again after a couple of years in the wilderness. He was finally back down to a feasible handicap mark and he clearly appreciates the prevailing ground conditions. He might well get three miles which would certainly give David more options - let's just hope that the handicapper does not overreact and it is not another two years before we see him winning again.
