Ground Continues To Dry

We have had another chilly start to the morning with temperatures at -2ºc driving in.  Amazingly we have had no meaningful rain at the yard since 27th March and that has shown up in the ground at some of the racecourses.  There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Ayr, Fontwell and Exeter and flat cards from Newbury and Bath.  Despite watering the course, the ground at Exeter is good/firm, whilst Bath (who do not have the luxury of watering facilities) is currently good/firm (firm in places) so it is unsurprising that there are some fairly small fields today.  There are no runners from the Pond House team today.

Although we had no runners yesterday afternoon, there is always plenty to be done and we were busy keeping tabs on the meeting at Auteuil (France's premier jumps track) as there were a few claiming races and we purchased the winner of the 2m2½f four year old's chase; Itacare.  He is a nice four year old gelding by Silver Frost who has now won twice at the course and shown some decent form in higher grades as well.  He will be with us shortly and looks an exciting prospect going forward.  He has already proven that he can jump around a stiff track and will be able to claim a hefty weight allowance in chases.  Obviously he is already fit and ready to run and is currently for sale, so do get in touch with the office if you would be interested in being involved with this handsome grey (and I am definitely not talking about David!).

Above: Itacare wins at Auteuil yesterday, the first and second well clear of the remainder
(Image: France Galop/Equidia)

Godolphin (or should I say the Charlie Appleby yard) continued their early season dominance in the Classic Trials by landing a 1-2 in the Craven yesterday with Master Of The Seas narrowly beating La Barrosa in a close finish, the pair well clear of the third.  Meanwhile, Godolphin's other retained trainer Saeed Bin Suroor will not be having his first turf runners for another couple of weeks...it certainly must be frustrating seeing the other arm of the operation doing so well.  Admittedly it is a very small sample (and I am sure they will prove me very wrong), but I have noticed that Aidan O'Brien's runners on this side of the Irish Sea have cut little ice in recent days.

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There is some Premiership action to look forward to tonight as Everton host Tottenham Hotspur.  Neither side has been in great form of late and they will both be desperate to earn points from this game as they are still in the hunt for a place in Europe next season.  Everton have home field advantage but it looks a trappy contest and a draw would come as no surprise whatsoever.

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What do you get if you cross an elephant with a fish?  Swimming trunks!