- Monday, 15 June 2020 11:15
- Written by David Pipe
Jockey Jason Watson rode Leoncavallo
Leoncavallo ran a super race at Sandown on Saturday, beaten a nose in a photo finish. He was making his stable debut for the Value Racing Club and was having his first start on the flat since 2016. Jockey Jason Watson was having his first ride for me as well and he rode a good race. He broke from the stalls well, travelled nicely behind the leaders throughout before Jason asked him to quicken on as they entered the straight. He hung slightly to the right towards the finish which did not help his cause but he battled well and only just lost out on the nod. He will probably appreciate an even stiffer test of stamina on the level having already won over two miles before but I am really looking forward to getting him out over hurdles later this summer. He as a really likeable attitude and loves his racing. I just wish I had had my camera with me yesterday morning as he went out for some grass in a little paddock; he was absolutely covered in mud from head to toe and he had a lovely time out there!
- Monday, 08 June 2020 10:48
- Written by David Pipe
Jacbequick Retired
One week on from racing return I think we can all look back and take immense pride from the way in which our sport has returned, the first back since it was all stopped due to the pandemic. All eyes were on the racing world after the Cheltenham Festival has received widespread criticism for going ahead. I think great credit must go to the whole team of people involved in getting racing back up and running as quickly and efficiently as they have. There has been some great action already and Newmarket provided some high class entertainment over the weekend. I thought ITV racing did a great job with their coverage and viewing figures for the entire meeting were up compared to last year. Let’s hope we are managing to attract a few new fans to our sport.
- Monday, 01 June 2020 11:06
- Written by David Pipe
Teaser - Our First Runner Back
I am delighted to be writing today with racing being back for the first time at Newcastle this afternoon. There has been some great work behind the scenes to make this happen and we have the privilege of being the first sport back in action. I saw Martin Cruddace, an owner at Pond House and ARC chief, and Hayley Turner on Good Morning Britain this morning and they were doing a brilliant job of explaining how racing is going to work behind closed doors. I think it is great opportunity to try and attract a wider audience to our sport being the first one back on the TV and hope as an industry we make the most of this window. As long as things run smoothly and everyone sticks to the new protocols then I should see no reason why this should not happen and there is some cracking racing to look forward to at the weekend.
- Monday, 25 May 2020 09:59
- Written by David Pipe
This time next week, all being well, we could be set for our first day’s racing since it was stopped in March. We have been receiving lots of guidance from the BHA about protocols and PPE to ensure everyone follows strict guidelines. There is an online course that staff have to complete if they will be attending race meetings as well as health screening forms and temperatures will be taken of everyone arriving at the racecourse. Failure to complete any of these steps will mean they will be prevented from entering the racecourse. We were used to doing it for the horses last year when we had the equine flu and so now we will have to get used to doing it for humans!
We have also received a provisional fixture list that runs up until the end of August. The first scheduled jumps meeting is at Southwell on Wednesday 1st July with one the day after as well although that venue is yet to be confirmed – it is likely to be in Wales or Scotland but they are waiting for further government guidance before confirming.
- Monday, 18 May 2020 10:40
- Written by David Pipe
Delface & Mr Clarkson
There have been significant developments in the last week in the racing world with regards to the resumption of racing in this country. Everyone is now focusing on a return to flat action behind closed doors on 1st June at Newcastle. A programme of race meetings and races has been released for the first eight days while they are hoping to produce the fixture list for the rest of June by the end of this week. There is a big weekend planned for 6th/7th June with the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas scheduled to take place while Royal Ascot will take place on its original dates 16th – 20th June.
- Monday, 30 November -0001 00:00
- Written by David Pipe
Extra Mag & Brinkley Out at Grass
Another week has passed and while Boris’ speech did not give any clues as to when racing might resume I believe we will find out more in the next couple of days. The government will hopefully put some ‘meat on the bones’ to the Prime Minister’s speech and give further details of its road plan later today and when the Resumption of Racing group have met as well we should find out more. Fingers crossed we may get a date when the flat will be able start sometime this week. My three children watched his speech with us last night and were all left a little disappointed. They were hoping to hear about sleepover’s and when they might be able to go shopping next and it is really hard to explain to Martha (4) that these things would not be happening for a while!
- Monday, 04 May 2020 11:26
- Written by David Pipe
Days seem to be passing by quite quickly despite a relative lack of things to entertain us which I guess is a good thing! There are still plenty of jobs going on at Pond House and I am managing to keep out of trouble! The kids are settled into their home schooling routine and although it is quite stressful for Leanne things are going pretty well and she is doing a great job.
- Monday, 27 April 2020 08:49
- Written by David Pipe
Brinkley at Sunset
Another week has passed and thankfully we sort of remain in our own little bubble at Pond House. Life continues relatively normally, while things outside are of course nowhere near normal. Thankfully all the staff and horses remain healthy and everyone I speak to fortunately seems relatively untouched by something that has brought so much disruption and heartache to many.
- Monday, 20 April 2020 10:34
- Written by David Pipe
Champers On Ice after Winning at Newbury
I thought this week I would pick out a few key moments and horses from the past season which has been a good one for the yard. We enjoyed a fine season with 64 winners and a good ninth place in the trainer’s championship. We sent out more winners than the likes of Colin Tizzard, Jonjo O’Neill and Donald McCain despite considerably fewer runners. I was particularly proud of our winners to runner’s ratio this term. With 49% of the horses to have run for us during the season winning at least one race we boasted a strike rate higher than any other stable in the top ten of the championship, Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls included.
- Monday, 13 April 2020 08:35
- Written by David Pipe
Some of the 'Girls' at Grass
I hope everyone has had an enjoyable Easter weekend all things considered. The weather has certainly played its part and I have enjoyed spending time with the kids in the garden. cricket, football, water fights and Easter egg hunts, you name it we have done it! They would have been going back to school this week but obviously with the lockdown still in place it is back to home learning in the days ahead, good luck Leanne!! My girls, Sophie and Martha both entered the Fairyhouse racecourse colouring competition. We weren’t winners but they enjoyed doing it and it was great to see a lot of the entries on Twitter yesterday. Had things be different I might well have been in Ireland today with Vieux Lion Rouge in the Irish National, maybe if it is rescheduled for the Autumn we will consider it.
