- Tuesday, 28 August 2012 14:55
- Written by David Pipe
We had a nice winner last week when Katchmore (pictured above) produced something of a surprise to land a tight handicap hurdle over 2m4f at Ffos Las under Tom Scudamore on Thursday. It was his first conclusive try at the trip and they went a good pace given there were only five runners. Ffos Las is a wide open, galloping track yet he saw the race out well to record a personal best performance. This now opens up a whole host of other races that he could go for before eventually making the switch to fences. Katchmore has plenty of size and scope about him and if he jumps fences like his hurdles, he will make a really exciting recruit to the larger obstacles when the time comes.
- Monday, 20 August 2012 15:52
- Written by David Pipe
It was our annual Owners’ Day at the yard on Sunday afternoon and we had a very good turnout with well in excess of 150 people in attendance. Our guests had the opportunity to tour the yard and meet the horses and sit down for a magnificent roast beef dinner in our marquee (as well as have a tipple or two!). I would like to thank all of the staff who gave up their time to help out and ensure that the day went without a hitch, as well as Sally from local catering firm Relish for the wonderful meal.
Incredibly after all of the moaning I have been doing lately about the amount of rain we have had, we were treated to a lovely sunny day (I know, a sunny day in the summer - barely believable!) and the event really couldn’t have gone any better.
I thought that both of our runners in Saturday’s Summer Champion Hurdle at Perth ran creditable races. Hunterview (fourth) and His Excellency (fifth) both picked up prize money in this fiercely competitive handicap and were only beaten around five lengths, giving hope that they should be upto winning again in the near future.
We enjoyed a nice winner at Stratford this afternoon (Monday) when Premier Dane (pictured right) won over fences to make it two wins from two starts since joining the yard. He was taking advantage of a mark only 2lbs higher than for his initial success over hurdles although he probably didn’t have much more in hand. He is entered again in a couple of races at Ffos Las on Thursday or Friday and could turn out again, although I am not sure he will be particularly well-treated under a penalty for today’s success.
The next runner from the yard will be Ashbrittle, who takes in the staying handicap on the flat at York on Wednesday. Graham Lee will take the ride and I have been meaning to give him the leg-up on one for some time since switching codes to the level. Graham has had a great time of things since taking out his flat licence, notching 45 successes so far this year – he has lost none of his strength despite the fact that he can do 8st8lbs. Ashbrittle will be having his first start since finishing eighth in the Ascot Stakes where he met quite a bit of trouble in running – Paul Hanagan who was on board that day thought that the interference probably cost him a place, so I will be hoping for better luck in running on Wednesday.
Talking of York on Wednesday, I am sure that all eyes will be on Frankel as he makes the eagerly anticipated step up to ten furlongs in the Juddmonte International on Wednesday. It looks like being a thorough test with St Nicholas Abbey (proven over twelve furlongs) and two Ballydoyle pacemakers in the field, as well as Frankel’s three parts brother Bullet Train. Personally I can’t see Frankel doing anything other than improve for the extra couple of furlongs and I would love to see a performance that sees him ranked as the greatest performer since the International Classification was first published.
It looks like being something of a bumper day on Wednesday as we will certainly have a few runners at the evening meeting at Newton Abbot. Personally, I love the atmosphere at the Devon track and there is bound to be a good turnout with all of the holidaymakers present, so much as I would love to see Frankel again, I think I will be heading off to my local track.
We will be taking it easy over the weekend as we have no entries at the sole jumps meeting at Cartmel on Saturday where the ground is already soft, while there are no National Hunt meetings at all on Sunday. I say “easy”, but there is still plenty of work to be done – the horses continue to arrive back and the yard is filling up quickly despite there being plenty more to arrive back yet! I am certainly not complaining though, I would sooner be busy than idle any day of the week.
As always, you can keep right up to date with all the latest news from the stable by visiting Chester’s Daily Chat…
- Monday, 13 August 2012 16:01
- Written by David Pipe
The Olympics are over for another four years and while some people will be breathing a sigh of relief, I for one will miss them. Team GB had the most amazing time, roared on by the home crowd to finish third in the medal table with an amazing 29 gold medals. The likes of Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and Sir Chris Hoy were inspirational, but I must also make special reference to the achievements of the equestrian stars, notably Tina Cook and Nick Skelton both of whom have racing connections.
- Monday, 06 August 2012 15:44
- Written by David Pipe
We have now embarked on our summer sabbatical as there is no National Hunt racing until Thursday 16th August. At this time of year the jumps program gets very disjointed as there is another blank week in September. Indeed, we used to have a month off before the commencement of the new season and a return to that sort of schedule would be beneficial to all involved, giving trainers and jockeys a decent break to recharge the batteries, as well as the horses to get a good pick of summer grass.
- Monday, 30 July 2012 18:05
- Written by David Pipe
We truly are in the middle of a great British sporting summer and I won’t bore you with my thoughts on the Olympics because Chester has gone on about those enough already, other than to say that the Opening Ceremony was spectacular (even if it would have left a great proportion of the rest of the world scratching their heads!) and that I will be cheering on Team GB over the coming couple of weeks.
- Tuesday, 24 July 2012 14:00
- Written by David Pipe
It was a good weekend for the yard with a one-two in the 2m5f handicap hurdle at Market Rasen on Saturday courtesy of recent recruit Premier Dane and old favourite Raslan. Premier Dane, who has been a high class horse down the years (indeed he is a multiple winner on the flat, over hurdles and fences and was placed in the County Hurdle at the 2007 Cheltenham Festival) made a pleasing start on his debut since joining Pond House with a determined success. Unsurprisingly he was very keen on his first start in almost fourteen months but that didn’t stop him seeing his race out well from stable companion Raslan who was given a very enterprising ride by Timmy Murphy.
- Tuesday, 17 July 2012 14:26
- Written by David Pipe
Although we had a few runners through the week on the flat (with War Singer running a promising first race on the level in this country), we waited until the weekend for some better ground for our jumpers, with runners at Southwell and Stratford.
