- Monday, 30 January 2012 13:46
- Written by David Pipe
Winner 67 of the season - Quinte Du Chatelet
Notus De La Tour returned home from Ireland in the early hours of the morning and I am pleased to report he seems fine and was in good form when I fed him his breakfast! He ran another fine race in the Irish Arkle at Leopardstown yesterday and Robbie Power gave him another great ride but we (an the rest of the field) were no match for the very impressive winner, Flemenstar. It is reported the winner will not be heading to Cheltenham in March but wherever he does turn out it will take a very good horse to beat him. The ultra consistent Notus De La Tour will now head straight to the Festival but is exact target has yet to be decided it maybe either the Jewson novice’s chase or the Byrne Group chase. I would once again like to express our sincere thanks to Leopardstown racecourse for looking after our owners and staff so well once again as everyone enjoyed a brilliant day. We picked up a nice little bit of prize money for finishing third and I am sure we will be travelling back across the Irish sea again very soon.
- Tuesday, 24 January 2012 10:23
- Written by David Pipe
After speaking with the owners, we have decided not to run Grands Crus at Cheltenham on Saturday. We didn’t want to give him a hard race with March just around the corner. He may run at Newbury in a three mile novices’ chase on 11th February or could go straight to the Festival. A decision on which race he will take in at the Cheltenham Festival is still to be decided and will not be made until much nearer the time.
Exciting hurdler Dynaste runs in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham this Saturday.
- Monday, 16 January 2012 16:56
- Written by David Pipe
I was very pleased with the success of Kazlian (pictured above) at Leicester last Tuesday afternoon when easily landing the novices’ hurdle under a penalty. Tom Scu sent our four year old on at the penultimate hurdle and he won as he pleased from High On A Hill. The bare form of the race is difficult to assess – the runner-up, while useful on the flat had run poorly on his only previous start over timber, while second favourite Tuscan Gold was clearly below form. Even so, he was very impressive and his jumping has improved with each start – he is clearly on the upgrade and his next target will be governed by what the handicapper decides to do with him, although I would imagine that he will eventually be contesting one of the novices’ hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
- Monday, 09 January 2012 16:57
- Written by David Pipe
The stable enjoyed another productive week with four winners. Ashbrittle started the ball rolling at Lingfield on Thursday when getting the better of Charm School in the maiden hurdle. The pair had filled the minor placings at Ffos Las a fortnight earlier and ran almost to the pound again here. Ashbrittle prevailed by a length under a fine ride from Conor O’Farrell with the pair 21 lengths clear of the remainder.
- Wednesday, 04 January 2012 07:45
- Written by David Pipe
The saying goes “out with the old and in with the new” and we saw out 2011 in style with a winner at Warwick on New Year’s Eve before seeing in the New Year with another victory at Exeter on 1st January, and the winning habit is certainly one that we are hoping to keep for the remainder of the year and beyond!
- Thursday, 29 December 2011 08:47
- Written by David Pipe
Well, Christmas is all over for another year and I hope that you enjoyed the festive season. It has been a remarkable few days on the racing front culminating in incredible scenes at Kempton on Boxing Day for one of the most inspiring day’s racing that I can recall.
- Monday, 19 December 2011 16:43
- Written by David Pipe
It was another productive week for the yard with four more winners taking our seasonal tally to 50 – a nice milestone to reach before Christmas. Buddy Bolero started the ball rolling at Folkestone on Tuesday and he put up a dour staying performance to land the 2m6f novices’ hurdle. Stamina is clearly his long suit as the ground was very testing and the horses were finishing tired throughout the day – but he kept going well to score a ready fifteen length victory. Whatever he does now will be a bonus as he looks to be an embryonic staying chaser in the making.
