- Monday, 18 December 2017 17:00
- Written by David Pipe
It is time to adjust to the loss of one of Pond House’s brightest stars after the awful events of the weekend at Cheltenham racecourse and this week’s blog has been an extremely difficult and emotional one to write. On Sunday it was very hard feeding up with Starchitect's stable being empty. I have been around the sport long enough to deal with the exultant highs and inevitable, crushing lows that the sport of horseracing can bring, but this one has bought unparalleled sadness not just to me, but to the whole team at the yard and no doubt, Paul and Clare Rooney.
- Monday, 11 December 2017 15:36
- Written by David Pipe
Eamon An Cnoic Winner at Haydock
While Storm Caroline caused the abandonment of Huntingdon yesterday due to snow it brought torrential rain and very high winds to Pond House. Thankfully the yard coped remarkably well with all Mother Nature threw at us and despite me personally taking refuge from the elements in the afternoon the daily routine continued as normal. Whether the racing fixtures this week run as normal or not seems highly unlikely but keep checking Chester’s blog for news throughout the week. I watched some of the racing in Ireland yesterday and most races were a war of attrition but it was great to see Gold Cup winner Sizing John return in such fine form. He looks like he will difficult to beat in any race he turns up in for the rest of the season.
- Monday, 04 December 2017 17:04
- Written by David Pipe
Busy as it is around Pound House at this time of year, it is not all work, work, you know. Indeed, midweek myself, Leanne Jack and Sophie jetted off to Finland to see if we could find Father Christmas and his helpers in Lapland! Back at home we still had eight runners through the course of the week and the racing diary is looking busy once again over the coming week.
- Monday, 27 November 2017 16:57
- Written by David Pipe
Another couple of winners last week courtesy of Ramses de Teillee and You Say What (pictured above) kept the scoreboard rolling along and at the time of writing the seasonal tally stands at 14. With the horses continuing in good order there is plenty to look forward to and the week ahead is looking busy with many entries over the coming days.
- Monday, 20 November 2017 16:44
- Written by David Pipe
The stable enjoyed a couple of nice winners last week courtesy of Tobacco Road and What A Moment . It was fantastic to get on the board at the first time of asking at Cheltenham’s November meeting, a fixture at which the stable has so often excelled in the past. The horses continue to run well and there were a number of other notable performances too, none more so than the brave performance of Starchitect in the big one itself – it really was a close of so near, yet so far.
- Monday, 13 November 2017 16:48
- Written by David Pipe
The good form of the stable continued last week with the successes of Red Square Revival and Dell’ Arca at Plumpton and Newbury respectively, while there were a number of other creditable performances. With the November meeting at Cheltenham taking place this week and a whole host of other big races on the horizon, it is certainly a very exciting time of the season and with the horses in good order there is plenty to look forward to.
- Monday, 06 November 2017 16:44
- Written by David Pipe
Last week was a very good one for the stable with the successes of Saint John Henry, Starchitect and Daklondike, while there were also a number of creditable placed efforts. It was certainly a relief to get back on the board to end a frustrating spell during which time the horses by and large had been running respectably without quite getting their heads in front. As I alluded to in my blog last week, from now until the end of April is the core part of the season that we tend to focus primarily upon and as such, it is good to see the horses in good order.
- Monday, 30 October 2017 16:50
- Written by David Pipe
It was great to be back racing at the headquarters of British jumping at the weekend. The first meeting of the season at Cheltenham took place on Saturday and Sunday and with the Tattersalls Horses In Training Sales and a busy entry book for the week ahead, this time of year certainly marks an upturn in pace at Pond House.
- Monday, 23 October 2017 14:03
- Written by David Pipe
Well we all survived storm Brian here at Pond House relatively unscathed!! The weather was quite rough and high winds brought down a few branches and we had over 30mm of rain but there was not too much to complain about in the grand scale of things and the normal daily routine was carried out with no problems.
Bambi Du Noyer could not follow up his win at Exeter but ran okay to finish fourth. Unfortunately the rain had really got into the ground by the time of his race and that combined with the step up in distance all went against him. He had to run as he was due to go up 11 pounds in the handicap and it does mean life will be tougher for him in the future. I am sure back on some better ground he is capable of running well again as he is a trier. Red Square Revival ran another solid race to finish third at Wincanton on Friday. I am pleased he has put together two good efforts in a row and hopefully he can build on this next time. He jumped well and looked the winner turning out of the back straight but got quite tired from 3 out and did not appear to stay the 3m1f. We will probably look for a 2m4-2m6f chase next time.
- Monday, 16 October 2017 15:29
- Written by David Pipe
Last week was a busy one both on and off the course. We were joined by a number of visitors including jockeys (past and present), reporters, photographers and even racegoers so there was plenty to keep us occupied. Meanwhile the week was topped off by the facile success of Bambi du Noyer at Exeter.
