gliders1

Today there are five meetings - four on the flat at Catterick, Lingfield, Sandown and Leicester and one jumps card at Worcester.  The stable has a runner in the 2.50pm race, Lahib The Fifth who makes his debut for the yard.  He has had 445 days off since his last run and wears cheekpieces for the first time but David had a winner for the Hush Hush Partnership with a horse with a similar profile last week (Premier Dane).  The ground is currently good (good/firm places) - they had soft places on the track a couple of days ago, so whatever you are backing - at least some of the ground should suit your horse!

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Shallow Bay is the stable runner this evening at Bangor in the conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle.  He was a decent flat performer and boasts plenty of good placed form over timber - he will be partnered by Tom Bellamy who takes a very useful 8lbs off his back.  Our conditional is getting a quite a few opportunities now and his claim is particularly useful to reduce the burden of runners with plenty of weight.  There are four other meetings on this afternoon with action from Musselburgh, Yarmouth and Ffos Las on the flat and another jumps card at Ffos Las.

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Premier_Dane_Market_Rasen_web

It was a good weekend for the yard with a number of noteworthy performances, not least the success of Premier Dane (pictured above) at Market Rasen on his first start for the stable.  He beat stablemate Raslan in a thrilling finish and netted winning owners The Hush Hush Partnership nearly £10,000 - I wonder if they know they have won?!  I thought that Raslan ran a cracker in second (only beaten 1/2 length) and showed a lot more sparkle than of late - he will surely head to Newton Abbot now for the big summer hurdle that he won there in 2009 and 2010.  Shoegazer also posted a good effort when finishing fifth reverting to hurdles in the valuable handicap at Cartmel.  He was in front over the last but just weakened in the final 100 yards.

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Vertige_Dore_gallops

We are off to Newton Abbot this afternooon with a couple of runners and there should be a good turnout, especially if this decent weather holds.  Newton Abbot always attracts plenty of holiday makers and there is always a really enjoyable atmosphere and that makes it one of my favourite tracks, that and the fact that it is only just down the road from my home in Brixham!  Presenting Ace participates in the maiden hurdle where he will be partnered by young Frank Hayes, who has spent the last couple of months working in France.  Vertige Dore (pictured above) is our other runner on the card.

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qulinton_market_rasen

It's a busy day for the yard with runners at both jump meetings, Cartmel and Market Rasen.  Shoegazer, already a three time winner this season over fences reverts back to hurdles for birthday boy Wayne Clifford and it would be great if he could give him a birthday winner.  If you were thinking of attending the meeting at Cartmel I would suggest that you give yourself plenty of time as the traffic and parking around the course can get very tricky - even so, the place is well worth a visit.  Over at Market Rasen we have six runners, including Qulinton who is bidding to follow-up last year's Summer Plate success.  Our other runners are Raslan, Premier Dane, Katchmore, Street Entertainer and Woodlark Island.  Premier Dane, who has shown useful form in the past (notably when placed at the Cheltenham Festival) makes his debut for the yard today and I am looking forward to seeing how he gets on.

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Martial_Law_Worcester_web

With five meetings of flat action taking place this afternoon, the stable has one runner, Martial Law at Ascot.  A useful winning hurdler since joining us at Pond House, he makes his first start for us on the level and will be partnered by young Willie Twiston-Davies who has been among the winners lately and is excellent value for his 7lbs claim.  Our six year old is very well travelled having started his career on the flat in France before resuming his career in Australia - I bet it took some acclimatising when he came to England last year!  The other meetings taking part this afternoon are at Haydock, Nottingham, Newmarket and Pontefract.

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royal-lytham-golf1_572

I thought that American Art ran a decent enough race when second under Conor O'Farrell at Uttoxeter yesterday afternoon.  The ground would have been soft enough for him but he turned in a good effort on his seasonal debut behind a useful performer for the grade (to whom we were conceding 5lbs), the pair of them thirteen lengths clear of the third.  The race was slow by some 18 seconds and that shows how soft the ground was - I am sure American Art will be winning again, especially when the ground dries out a bit.  Unfortunately Worcester was abandoned so we did not get a chance to see Lahib The Fifth in action for the first time since joining us at Pond House.

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