- Thursday, 10 March 2011 08:02
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Apparently there will now be less rain than originally anticipated ahead of next week's Cheltenham Festival - there is even the chance of some sunshine on the Tuesday and Thursday and the temperatures hitting a balmy 15°c. Let's hope that the ground does not get too quick otherwise they will be tempted to turn the taps on at Prestbury Park and that tends to make the ground dead. Personally I would like genuine good ground, that way everyone should be happy and there should be no excuses for anyone...roll on Tuesday!
- Wednesday, 09 March 2011 08:22
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Chartreux parades at the Pond House Press Day
David held a Cheltenham Festival Press event at the yard yesterday morning and it was very well attended by the media. It was obviously an enjoyable and informative meeting judged by the footage on the BBC and ITV yesterday evening, and for a change the weather stayed kind to us! A couple of interesting pieces of information that emerged were that Dan Breen is likely to go down the Arkle route with the application of first time blinkers, while leading Irish amateur jockey Jamie Codd has been booked to ride Kim Muir ante-post fancy Junior. Mike Vince spoke with David yesterday and you can find his Cheltenham thoughts in his weekly blog or our media vault. Mike also caught up with our team of jockeys and you can listen to the first installment (Danny Cook) by clicking here - tomorrow you can hear Cheltenham Festival debutant Conor O'Farrell as he prepares for next week.
- Tuesday, 08 March 2011 08:09
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
This Saturday sees Sandown host the Imperial Cup handicap hurdle - if you win on Saturday and then go on to win at the Cheltenham Festival the following week, the winning connections receive a generous £75,000 bonus from the sponsors. So far David and Martin are the only trainers to have accomplished the feat - MCP did it twice with Olympian and Blowing Wind, while David won it for his father in 2007 with Gaspara. We have two entries in this year's renewal: Ronaldo des Mottes and Arrayan, although I am told that they are not certain runners at this stage. The Henderson team look to hold a strong hand this year with four of the top five in the market.
- Monday, 07 March 2011 08:10
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I thought that Swing Bill ran another good race in the Grade 3 chase at Newbury on Saturday. Our grey gelding ran on stoutly close home to claim a creditable third, beaten only 2 1/4 lengths - had the ground been a little softer, I think that he would have gone very close to winning. As long as the handicapper isn't too harsh on him (remember he went up 11lbs for his previous success in a veteran's race), he could be up to wining again. Close House also ran a cracker on his Pond House debut in the valuable Doncaster bumper. He finished second to favourite Montbazon and I reckon this was a really good piece of form - the winner was only narrowly beaten by a well-fancied contender for the Festival bumper last time, and we were trying to concede 4lbs to him here. He looks the type to progress once sent hurdling and is clearly a smart prospect.
- Sunday, 06 March 2011 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
If you were planning on going to go to Wincanton races this Friday, here is something a little different that you might like to consider. For £20 you can have breakfast with jockey Joe Tizzard, then take a one mile tour of the course. If Joe is the same as most of the jockeys, breakfast will consist of a slice of dry toast and a nice refreshing glass of water! Of course, I am only joking and Wincanton will probably lay on a proper fry-up for us salad dodgers! You can book now by calling 01963 32344.
- Saturday, 05 March 2011 08:20
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I thought that the stable's Our Father ran another good race at Newbury yesterday afternoon, despite finishing second to Handy Andy in the novices' hurdle. The pair of them finished well clear of the remainder and they look to be a couple of useful recruits. I was pleased to see the winner was owned by Brocade Racing (who have a number of nice horses here at Pond House) - he fetched quite a lot of money at the sales in January and our fellow was trying to concede 6lbs to him, so I reckon it was a decent run from our five year old. Our Father is a lovely big stamp of a horse who is still really just a big baby - I am sure the further experience will not have been lost on him.
- Friday, 04 March 2011 09:06
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I thought that Laustra Bad ran another sound race at Taunton yesterday afternoon when finishing second to Fountains Flypast in the 2m3 1/2f handicap hurdle. It seems to me that our eight year old is running some good races without getting his head in front and I dare say that the handicapper will make life more difficult still by putting him up by another pound or two. While he is undeniably reasonably treated compared to when he last won, it should be remembered that he has never won a handicap and come next month it will be four years since he was last successful - it is about time the handicapper gave him more of a chance rather than sticking him back up the weights again for not winning!
Spirit Of Barbados also ran his best race to date when finishing fourth in the novices' hurdle. He stayed on nicely and looks as though a step up in trip will suit him in the future.
