- Monday, 29 March 2021 15:13
- Written by David Pipe
It is that time of the year when we start to wind a few of the horses down in preparation for their summer holidays. We will be busy over the coming weeks prepping the fields and paddocks in readiness and with a largely dry forecast for the month ahead; it seems like the ideal time. Of course, there will be those that remain in training with a view to a summer jumps campaign, whilst we have a few who could also run on the flat.
- Monday, 22 March 2021 15:44
- Written by David Pipe
The Cheltenham Festival is over for another year and I am sure there will be plenty of trainers on this side of the Irish Sea who will be glad to see the back of it. Whilst we drew a blank at the meeting, most of our runners performed creditably. Adagio (pictured above) ran an excellent race to finish second in the Triumph Hurdle and we finished the week with a winner at Chepstow on Sunday which took us to the half century for the season.
- Monday, 15 March 2021 16:43
- Written by David Pipe
The 2021 Cheltenham Festival is now less than 24 hours away and although we still have declarations to make for the Thursday and Friday of the Festival, the hard work of getting the horses fit and ready to run is complete and now we just need to keep them ticking over until their respective races. Numerically we will not have a lot of runners this year, although we do go there with some nice chances. Obviously, things are very different this time around but the sense of excitement and anticipation around the yard is as great as ever.
- Monday, 08 March 2021 16:29
- Written by David Pipe
With just a week to go until the 2021 Cheltenham Festival I am pleased to have brought to an end the frustrating run of placings courtesy of a fantastic double at Newbury over the weekend. Umbrigado was very good in landing the prestigious Grade 3 Greatwood Gold Cup, whilst Iron Heart confirmed his promise by scoring on his handicap debut on the same card. With a good run from Night Edition in the valuable Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso on Saturday, it is reassuring to have the string in such good order as the highlight of the racing calendar is almost upon us.
- Monday, 01 March 2021 16:11
- Written by David Pipe
Last week was a frustrating one for the stable with a number of runners reaching the frame without quite getting their heads in front. That trend continued today with What A Moment just touched off in a photo finish at Plumpton. Even so, with only a fortnight to go until the Cheltenham Festival I am satisfied that the horses continue to run well.
- Monday, 22 February 2021 16:18
- Written by David Pipe
With only three weeks to go until the Cheltenham Festival, I could not be happier with the form of the stable. With four more winners last week, including the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Chase success of Remastered at Ascot on Saturday our seasonal tally now stands at 44. We are certainly punching well above our weight and with five of those successes coming in graded race, that means we are producing quality as well as quantity with over 11% of our winners having come at the top levels.
- Monday, 15 February 2021 16:25
- Written by David Pipe
Following a handful of runners on the all-weather earlier in the week, it was great to be back on the turf at Exeter on Sunday. Better still, we were able to secure a double at the meeting courtesy of promising pair, Martinhal and Brinkley, which took our tally for the season to 40. After a prolonged cold snap, it is great news that temperatures have finally started to rise - with the Cheltenham Festival only a month away, it is important that the turf cards can go ahead so trainers can get their final prep runs into their horses.
- Monday, 08 February 2021 16:33
- Written by David Pipe
Not for the first time, inclement weather scuppered our plans last week with a number of fixtures abandoned due to waterlogging, snowfall or frozen ground. It is a great shame that Wetherby were forced to cancel their meeting on Saturday after plans were made to reschedule the Cleeve Hurdle that had been moved from Cheltenham the weekend prior. We were due to run Main Fact (pictured above) and Ramses de Teillee. Even so, we still managed to get a few runners to the track and whilst we drew a blank there were some praiseworthy efforts. With temperatures continuing to plummet this week, aided by a biting cold wind from the ‘Beast from the East’, I think that fixtures could be at a premium once again.
- Monday, 01 February 2021 16:15
- Written by David Pipe
The trials and tribulations of being a National Hunt racehorse trainer! Following a very dry Summer, you spend most of the Autumn praying for rain and then, when it does arrive, it is either so torrential that meetings are abandoned due to waterlogging, or the temperatures drop to leave the ground frozen! I am not bemoaning my luck (it is the same for everyone afterall) but you do need to be part meteorologist if you want to succeed in this sport as you need a real awareness of what the ground is likely to be several days in advance of each fixture.
- Monday, 25 January 2021 13:55
- Written by David Pipe
Little Red Lion by Birdie
We moved onto the 38 winner mark for the season last week thanks to a couple of nice winners and despite not having that many runners the yard continues in good form. Astigar made a very pleasing hurdling debut at Exeter last Tuesday. Although disappointing not to win he is a horse we hold in very high regard. This was only the second run of his life and he is still quite green and learning all the time. He has a big engine and I am sure he can go one better next time as he has a very bright future.
