Horses for Sale

   Tuxedo Junction (GB) 


Exciting dual purpose prospect,
click here for details!

 

    Fighter Allen (FR)  


Exciting new horse with proven form, 
click here for details!

 

 

  

We drew a blank on day one of the Festival but both our runners performed creditably in the 3m6f NH novices' chase.  Remastered made the running until the home straight, jumping really well out in front but he could not repel the leaders after the penultimate fence.  Meanwhile, Eden du Houx crept into contention at the top of the hill and looked as though he could get involved before his effort flattened out.  The ground, which had been soft, good to soft in places at the start of the day dried out very quickly on a bright, breezy day and it was too quick for Remastered's liking.  All of his wins have come on soft or heavy ground and I am sure granted those conditions, he will be able to continue his improvement.

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Cheltenham and Huntingdon and all-weather flat fixtures from Lingfield and Kempton.  Of course the highlight is day two of the Cheltenham Festival and the big race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase at 3.05pm.  This is where we see why Chacun Pour Soi is the highest-rated two mile chaser around as he takes in the Festival for the first time.  He already has victories over his Irish rivals, whilst on this side of the Irish Sea, Nube Negra needs to improve further and Politologue has a disappointing effort to overcome.  Notebook could offer a bit of value at prices of around 40/1 - he finished in front of Put The Kettle On on his penultimate start (behind Chacun Pour Soi), yet is four times the price.

There were a few stunning performances on day one with Appreciate It annihilating his rivals in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, whilst Shishkin benefitted from the frenetic early pace to take his rivals apart in the Arkle Chase.  He looks every inch the successor to Altior.  However, the highlight of the opening day was Honeysuckle who was fantastic in the Champion Hurdle, routing her rivals under Rachael Blackmore to extend her unbeaten record to eleven.  When you get a mare as good as this, you almost feel sorry for the opposite sex who have the unenviable task of trying to concede 7lbs to her.

Although there are no runners from the Pond House team today, we will be back tomorrow with three runners at Cheltenham; Brinkley (pictured above) in the Pertemps Hurdle Final, Main Fact in the Stayers' Hurdle and Eamon An Cnoic in the Paddy Power Plate, so come back then for our thoughts on those.

*****

What is the definition of mixed emotions?  When you see your mother-in-law backing off a cliff in your new car!

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