- Monday, 26 January 2015 16:56
- Written by David Pipe
As we approach the end of January I am pleased to report that the horses remain in good order and continue to perform creditably on the racecourse. Another three runners last week bears testament to this and our seasonal tally now stands at 80. Indeed, my parents have just returned from their holidays and during their absence the Pond House team have enjoyed nine successes…perhaps I should ask them to go on holiday a little more often? I don’t think my mother would mind, although my father may have other ideas!
- Monday, 19 January 2015 16:53
- Written by David Pipe
Another three winners last week means that the seasonal tally continues to tick along nicely and as I write we have enjoyed 77 winners this term. It wasn’t just a good week for us however; it was a monumental one for stable jockey Tom Scudamore who recorded his fastest one hundred winners at Newbury on Wednesday, beating his previous best by over two and a half months. With plenty of entries for the week ahead, including Trials day at Cheltenham this weekend, it is certainly a very exciting time of the year.
- Monday, 12 January 2015 16:42
- Written by David Pipe
Last week was certainly a productive one! Thankfully our case of seconditis cleared up and three winners meant that our seasonal tally ticked over to 74. Meanwhile we were also busy making entries for some of the big races for the Cheltenham Festival including the centrepiece, The Cheltenham Gold Cup. With further races closing tomorrow, for all the latest news on our Cheltenham team as well as all the other goings-on in the yard, read on…
- Monday, 05 January 2015 16:59
- Written by David Pipe
Happy New Year everyone and I am pleased to bring you my first update bulletin of 2015. It was a case of so near but yet so far last week with many of the stable’s runners performing creditably without quite managing to get on the scoresheet. As such, we remain on 71 winners for the current campaign – hopefully this bout of seconditis will not last too long and we will be able to notch our first success of 2015.
- Monday, 29 December 2014 10:56
- Written by David Pipe
Dynaste wearing his Christmas Jumper!
Well I hope everyone is enjoying the Festive period and eating and drinking far too much like I am?! After a couple of non-racing days early last week I enjoyed I nice family Christmas day with about 15 of us sitting down for lunch. I got up early as usual on the big day and fed the horses with the plan to go back for present opening with the children after but when I arrived home at 7.15am they were both still fast asleep! It wasn't long til they were awake however and it is great to see the joy on their faces and I now have some nice new toys to play with!!!
In the yard the staff choose to work either Christmas or New Year’s day and it usually works out well with an even split. They start at usual time, ride out in Christmas hats, get all the work done before heading off to celebrate with their own families.
- Monday, 22 December 2014 16:38
- Written by David Pipe
With no runners at Bangor today and no fixtures Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday that is us finished now until Boxing Day. Even so, there is plenty to be done in the lead-up to Friday – the horses still need to be fed, groomed and exercised, while the entries for all the big Christmas/New Year fixtures still need to be made. We will have a few dedicated individuals in on Christmas Day and their assistance at this time of year is as always very much appreciated.
- Monday, 15 December 2014 16:34
- Written by David Pipe
It was another good week for the stable with a couple of nice winners taking our tally for the season to 66, while stable jockey Tom Scudamore maintained his excellent form by notching his 88th win of the campaign. Of course the highlight for the Pond House team was the high profile success of exciting staying novice chaser Kings Palace at Cheltenham on Friday and he is certainly one that will keep me dreaming as Christmas fast approaches.
- Monday, 08 December 2014 17:03
- Written by David Pipe
What an eventful week it has been! A winner over the Grand National fences, a ride of the month contender from one of our conditional jockeys and the Pond House staff Christmas party to mention just a few of the highlights. With five winners on the week our seasonal tally stands at 64 successes and means the stable is still some two weeks ahead of schedule compared with our best previous season in terms of winners.
- Monday, 01 December 2014 16:42
- Written by David Pipe
I am pleased to report that as we enter the month of December the stable continues in good form, with five winners last week taking our tally to sixteen for November and fifty-nine for the season. If you had told me at the beginning of the season that I would be the leading trainer numerically at this time of year, I would have been very (pleasantly) surprised! With Tom Scudamore leading jockey at the Hennessy meeting at Newbury, there are plenty of reasons to be jolly as the Christmas season approaches!
- Monday, 24 November 2014 14:00
- Written by David Pipe
Taj Badalandabad - Winner at Chepstow
We did not have that many runners during the week last week but a double at Chepstow on Thursday kept the winners tally ticking along. Taj Badalandabad opened his account over hurdles at the second time of asking. He finished fourth on his hurdling debut up at Wetherby in what looks to be working out as a pretty decent race and it was great to see him do the job nicely here. He is still a bit novicey at some of his hurdles but he will improve with experience, he loves the soft ground and he should continue to provide us and owner William Frewen with some fun this winter. Smiles For Miles was our other Chesptow winner and it was nice to finally get this one’s head in front, his first victory of any description. The first time blinkers certainly seemed to do the trick and he travelled and jumped superbly, bar one mistake at the 4th last. He galloped all the way to the line on what was very testing ground to score comfortably and with a hike in the weights on the cards he will be probably run again sometime this week under a penalty. Providing the blinkers have the same effect again I hope he will be able to run well wherever he turns up, the options being Wetherby, Newbury and Doncaster.
