Awful Scenes At Newbury

The events of Saturday at Newbury were appaling and among the worst scenes I have ever witnessed on a racecourse.  It is not something that I have ever seen before and I hope not to do so again.  Early reports suggest that the horses had been electricuted and you would have to worry if such events could occur anywhere else.  Newbury have already taken investigatory action and I am sure they will fix anything they find immediately, but they will have to be 200% sure that there is not going to be a repeat.

Fortunately the trouble at Newbury did not seem to impact on the public's appetite for racing - there was an excellent turnout at Exeter yesterday, although the rain turned the ground heavy.  The stable runners were out of luck, and Battle Group decided he wasn't going to exert himself at all under Tom Scudamore.  Our six year old was having none of it though, and while he finally finished fourth he looked none too enthusiastic - perhaps he just doesn't like working on a Sunday?!

I would suggest that the ground was largely responsible for Mamlook's defeat in the novices' chase.  While he won on heavy ground at Fakenham, it was only a three runner race and ground conditions were far more testing at Exeter yesterday.  I think that once he encounters good ground and a slightly less testing track you will see a very different horse.  The times for yesterday's races were all at least 30 seconds slower than the standard time and that tells you all you need to know.

Below I have a nice picture of our team of jockeys from the novices hurdle in the paddock with a group of friends of Pond House.  They had been to visit us in the morning before embarking on a day at the races - hopefully they had a memorable day.  It was certainly a memorable occasion for Francis Hayes (centre, blue & white hooped sleeves) who was having his first ride over hurdles aboard MCP's Monopole.  Frank has ridden a couple of winners on the flat and he completed safely to finish fifth.

*****

I did enjoy reading about Robert Thornton and A P McCoy's eventful exit from the races at Newbury on Saturday.  Unfortunately as they thread their way through the crowds in their car, a drunk refused to move from in front of their car so they could get to Warwick races.  A P asked if he would kindly move out of the way, but only ended up with a volley of abuse.  Finally Thornton decided to get a little more aggresive and the fellow ended up over the bonnet of his car!