Bathwick_Man_Towcesterweb

Following a blank day on the jump racing front yesterday, it is nice to be back in action with runners at Uttoxeter and Hereford this evening.  Bathwick Man (pictured above winning at Towcester last time) and Dukes Art represent the yard at Hereford and will be ridden by stable jockey Tom Scudamore, while Timmy Murphy takes the mount aboard Cabora at Uttoxeter - all three of them possess plenty of ability and we look to have some solid chances.  Meanwhile on the level, there are four meetings at Newbury, Nottingham, Yarmouth and Haydock.

Read more...

I thought that Soulard ran a decent race at Southwell yesterday evening.  Our nine year old finished fourth in the handicap hurdle, only weakening before the last hurdle and he certainly looks capable of winning again in the coming months.  There are five flat meetings on this afternoon which means that we do not have any runners.  The action comes from Haydock, Yarmouth, Beverley, Hamilton and on the all-weather at Kempton and amazingly (considering the amount of rain that we have had) there are no inspections planned.  The other good news is that a number of local councils have decided to lift their hosepipe bans!

Read more...

Water_Garden_Ascot
There are four meetings on this afternoon with three on the flat from Lingfield, Brighton and Salisbury and a jumps card at Southwell.  We have one runner at Salisbury, Vergrigio who makes his debut for the stable in the 7f handicap at 4.35pm - he will now be partnered by Royston Ffrench who is deputising for the injured Neil Callan.  Meanwhile, back over jumps we have two runners at Southwell - Soulard ridden by Tom Scudamore and Water Garden who will be partnered by Timmy Murphy.  Water Garden (pictured above) has been running well all season in the handicaps but keeps creeping up the weights as a consequence.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the ground (currently good) as they have been watering - any significant rainfall on watered ground could make it very testing indeed.

Read more...

Martial_Law_Worcester_web

The stable enjoyed a nice winner at Worcester on Saturday when Martial Law gained overdue compensation for his Ffos Las fall a couple of starts back when landing the maiden hurdle.  Always prominent under Tom Scudamore, he took up the running three out and stayed on well to score a deserved victory - it was a good bit of placing from David, although things will be a bit tougher in handicaps after the assessor saw fit to raise him by 11lbs for his fall.  There were some other noteworthy performances from the weekend, including Midnight Tuesday who travelled strongly for much of the race before finishing third in the handicap hurdle from a mark of 128.  Arab League also ran well on the level at Newmarket, finishing a close-up fourth in the staying handicap.

Read more...

Clever_Dick_Taunton

There are just two jumps meetings on this afternoon at Perth and Worcester and the stable has runners at both meetings.  Tom Scu heads north (as usual!) and rides Shoegazer at Perth in the big race, The Perth Gold Cup.  It is his only ride of the day, so let's hope that it is a winner otherwise he will have done more than his riding fee in petrol!  It's a £20,000 race so it is obviously extremely competitive but our runner seems to be progressive over fences, having won two of his three starts, so we will all be hoping for the best.  Over at Worcester Paddy Brennan takes the ride aboard Clever Dick (pictured above), having won on him at Taunton last season.  He makes his chasing debut and David looks to have found him a decent opportunity.

Read more...

Midnight_Tuesday_Newbury

It looks like being a busy day for the yard with five runners over the sticks at Worcester this afternoon, while we also have a rare flat runner at Newmarket.  Tom Scudamore is aboard Kusadasi, Qulinton and Martial Law at Worcester, while young Tom Bellamy gets the leg-up aboard Swing Bill and Midnight Tuesday (pictured above).  We look to have a few decent chances today, not least Martial Law, who was arguably one of the unluckiest losers of the season so far when coming to grief at the last at Ffos Las with his race in safe-keeping.  He has to contend with an 11lbs higher mark this afternoon but can hopefully still be competitive and gain some compensation for owner Stuart Mercer.  Stuart won't know where to look as over at Newmarket his Arab League, who had such a great spell over hurdles last term runs on the level - Neil Callan is a positive jockey booking.

Read more...

Diamonds_Return_Exeter

The stable has one runner this afternoon as Diamond's Return (pictured above) bids to land a four-timer under Conor O'Farrell at Market Rasen.  Our eight year old rattled up a quick hat-trick over the space of ten days last month and while he is 21lbs higher than his initial success at Wincanton he still looks to be a worthy favourite.  Conor's dad owns the horse so they really are keeping it in the family!

Read more...