Pond House Press Day!

     Chartreux parades at the Pond House Press Day

David held a Cheltenham Festival Press event at the yard yesterday morning and it was very well attended by the media.  It was obviously an enjoyable and informative meeting judged by the footage on the BBC and ITV yesterday evening, and for a change the weather stayed kind to us!  A couple of interesting pieces of information that emerged were that Dan Breen is likely to go down the Arkle route with the application of first time blinkers, while leading Irish amateur jockey Jamie Codd has been booked to ride Kim Muir ante-post fancy Junior.  Mike Vince spoke with David yesterday and you can find his Cheltenham thoughts in his weekly blog or our media vault.  Mike also caught up with our team of jockeys and you can listen to the first installment (Danny Cook) by clicking here - tomorrow you can hear Cheltenham Festival debutant Conor O'Farrell as he prepares for next week.

Another smashing grey - Chartreux parades at the Pond House Cheltenham Press Day yesterday

David held a Cheltenham Festival Press event at the yard yesterday morning and it was very well attended by the media.  It was obviously an enjoyable and informative meeting judged by the footage on the BBC and ITV yesterday evening, and for a change the weather stayed kind to us!  A couple of interesting pieces of information that emerged were that Dan Breen is likely to go down the Arkle route with the application of first time blinkers, while leading Irish amateur jockey Jamie Codd has been booked to ride Kim Muir ante-post fancy Junior.  Mike Vince spoke with David yesterday and you can find his Cheltenham thoughts in his weekly blog or our media vault.  Mike also caught up with our team of jockeys and you can listen to the first installment (Danny Cook) by clicking here - tomorrow you can hear Cheltenham Festival debutant Conor O'Farrell as he prepares for next week.

  
Above left: Trop Fort and right: Junior parade for the press

*****

If you are looking for a heating engineer in the Exeter area, I wouldn't bother with Steve Whiteley!  Steve won £1.45 million on the Tote Jackpot even though he says that he knows nothing about racing...I know quite a few people like Steve, but they don't win that sort of money (especially for a £2 layout)!  The accumulator alone came to 879137/1, while he also won a further £300 for the single bets alone!  One of his winners included the stable's Mr Bennett (pictured right) who won at the rewarding odds of 16/1, while his last selection was Lupita.  Lupita was ridden by Jessica Lodge - she knew that the one remaining jackpot ticket was on her horse and she certainly dealt with the pressure admirably considering that she had never previously won a race under rules.  It looks as though all of Steve's Christmases have come at once!

*****

Let's hope that Bob Champion is okay.  He is currently in Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge following a heart attack in the early hours of yesterday morning.  I understand that he hopes to be released in time for the Cheltenham Festival - I had four heart attacks and I don't think that I would have been able to go to the Festival so soon.  Anyway, here's wishing Bob a speedy recovery.

*****

Cheltenham Festival Selections On
The Update Line 09060 400 901

Following on from stable jockey Tom Scudamore's selections yesterday, today I will be speaking with Tom's father and eight times champion jockey Peter Scudamore as he gives us the low down on his 2011 Cheltenham Festival fancies.

Tomorrow I will be joined by Bloodstock Agent and former jockey Tom Malone, and later in the week by Attheraces presenter Luke Harvey, fifteen times champion jockey A P McCoy, fifteen times champion trainer Martin Pipe, and of course, David who has had five Festival winners in his first four full seasons with a training license.  To listen in to this exclusive information call 09060 400 901 from 10am daily.  (Calls charged at £1.50 per min at all times, helpline 01884 840715)