The good form of the yard continued last week with the successes of Jacbequick and Barranco Valley taking our winners’ tally for the new season to 13 and entrenching us well inside the top ten of the trainers’ table at this early stage. Indeed our 13 winners have come from just 56 runners (at a strike rate of 24%) whilst a further 26 have finished in the first four places, meaning that 70% of the runners from Pond House have won or finished in the frame.

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What a thrilling few days of racing we were treated to at Royal Ascot last week. I ventured up to the Berkshire track with my partner Leanne, my mother and father where we had a runner on the opening day, whilst Gold Cup day on Thursday was memorable as the Frankie Dettori show that had the bookmakers running for cover. With a couple of winners for the stable at Uttoxeter on Wednesday it has to be considered a very good week.

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The weather has certainly taken a turn for the worse. Much as a spot of rain is appreciated to keep the ground safe for the horses, we have had almost 100mm of rain during the course of last week – that is more than the total for April and May combined! Consequently many of the jumps fixtures were abandoned due to waterlogging, leaving us with just the one runner over the sticks last week.

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Last week was another good one for the stable with the horses remaining in fine form. We enjoyed a rare and dramatic success on the flat (which brought back some advertising memories from the 80’s!), whilst all of our runners over the sticks performed with credit. It is looking a little quieter this week with just a handful of entries through the early part of the week although we are well represented at Worcester on Saturday.

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Although the disjointed nature of the summer jumps programme means that there are fewer opportunities for the horses, the string continues to perform well and I was delighted to hit the mark with Max do Brazil (pictured above) who was scoring a timely first success for the stable at Fakenham on Sunday. With the purchase of a couple more horses from the Tattersalls Ireland sales at Cheltenham, it has to be considered another productive week.

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    Story of Friends Winner at Warwick

Teaser gave the yard a great start to the week when winning at Ludlow last Monday an like I said last week the horses continue in great form it was just a little frustrating to have several more placings and not winners!  However Story of Friends was also a nice winner at Warwick on Wednesday on his hurdling debut.  He really enjoys the good ground, jumped nicely and won quite cosily in the end.  We will keep him on the go for now and monitor the weather.  If we were to get some rain and the ground be suitable then he might run again but failing that he will have a little summer holiday.  He is a lovely young horse who has won a bumper and hurdle race already this season.  He continues to improve and there should be plenty more to come.

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The horses continue to run with great credit and whilst we didn’t get into the winners’ enclosure last week, five of our nine runners over the sticks reached the frame. We have had a better start to this week however, with Teaser already successful for the team at Ludlow. With fewer meetings planned for the week ahead and a dry weather forecast for the next few days at the very least it is likely to be relatively quiet week in terms of runners. However, with the Doncaster Sales taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday there is plenty to keep the team occupied.

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Last week was certainly one to remember for the Pond House team with winners coming left, right and centre (back-to-back doubles book-ended by victories at Exeter and Market Rasen). With 6 winners from just 14 runners and some places to boot, I couldn’t be more pleased with our start to the new campaign. In truth, the horses have been running well for some considerable time now although we have been flying under the radar somewhat. The resetting of the tally’s with the start of the new season just serves to bring it more to people’s attention.

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It is hard to believe that the 2019/2020 jumps season is already upon us, but as has been the case for many years now, one season follows hot on the heels of the other. With a couple of runners today and tomorrow and plenty of entries for the remainder of the week it looks like being a busy start to the campaign. Indeed, I am off to Kempton this afternoon where we run Malangen.

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The weekend saw the closing of the 2018/19 season with a fantastic meeting from Sandown. Looking back, on the whole I am pleased with how things panned out for the Pond House team last term. Despite fewer horses we produced significantly more winners than the previous campaign, whilst increasing prize money by almost £100,000 and improving our percentage strike rate. It is now a case of starting again and bettering those totals this coming season. There is lots of work to do at the sales and around the yard this summer as we endeavour to do just that. I would like to thank my team of hard working staff for their continued efforts and my loyal owners for their trust and support.

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