Winning Sniper

   American Sniper - Winner at Cheltenham

It was brilliant to have a winner at Cheltenham yesterday with American Sniper winning the opening race of the day, the conditional jockeys handicap hurdle.  He travelled like a dream for Fergus Gillard throughout the race and came through to lead after the second last hurdle.  As we know, it is a long way up that Cheltenham hill however so it is always a slight worry but he pinged the last and powered up the hill to hold off the challenger, White Rhino.  There were emotional scenes in the winners enclosure as it meant a lot to the yard and his owners, a group of local lads, who it is fair to say had not had a lot of luck with horses up until this point – what a way to change your luck! 

Although gutted for Gearoid Harney, who chose to ride Paricolor I am delighted for Fergus Gillard who was riding his fist ever winner at Prestbury Park.  Although he no longer works at Pond House he left on good terms and keeps in contact so we were delighted to be able to use him in this race.  American Sniper certainly benefitted from the application of the cheek pieces and tongue strap and the handicapper had given him a little bit of help.  It was a dream come true for his owners and I am sure they are still partying now!

Paricolor ran another cracking race to be third, bouncing right back to form.  He certainly loves Cheltenham and he ran a super race, especially as the race was probably not run to suit him.  He would have preferred a much stronger gallop as they actually did not go that fast early on.  They then quickened going down the hill where he got a little outpaced but he then stayed on strongly up the hill, passing three rivals to grab third on the run in.  This was a great run and he will be winning again soon.  We actually still have shares left in him – so get in touch for more information and you could be in the winners enclosure next time!

Today we have three runners across three different meetings, Placenet, Sizing Pottsie and Rebel Angel.  Placenet makes his British debut in the 2.55pm handicap hurdle at Cheltenham over three miles.  Our six year old is a multiple winner over hurdles and fences in France and has a very good strike rate.  I really like his form and he runs today off a mark of 124 over hurdles, eight pounds lower than his chase mark.  While it will be interesting to see what he makes of the Cheltenham hill, a big field handicap and he is favourite, he is definitely one for the future and I can’t wait to see him in some staying chases later this season on really soft ground.

Sizing Pottise runs in the 2.47pm handicap hurdle over two miles at Uttoxeter with Gearoid Harney riding.  Hopefully he runs, we are waiting for news from the track about an inspection due to overnight rain.  Fingers crossed it will be okay as he will love the ground, the race looks ideal and I think we will see him bounce back to some form after wind surgery.  He won first time out last season and then lost his way a little after being highly tried and never really having his preferred heavy going.  He certainly will have that today and the handicapper has given him a chance so I would like to think he has a good chance and can run well and give us something to build on for next time.

Rebel Angel makes her stable debut at Wolverhampton this evening with Rob Hornby riding in the 8.30pm handicap over 1m4f.  We claimed her from France after she won at Les Sables last time.  She has won six races in her career, including over course and distance and she certainly knows how to win!  She show a great attitude at home in all she does and while she may not be the best handicapped hopefully she has a good chance.  I am looking forward to her going juvenile hurdling as she has a great little jump in her but this looks a good starting point and at about 5/1 I wouldn’t put anyone off a couple of pounds on her.

So today, hopefully we have three jumps meetings at Cheltenham, Uttoxeter and Wetherby.  There are two all-weather fixtures at Lingfield and Wolverhampton while in Ireland they have a good card over jumps at Navan.  The feature race at Cheltenham is of course the Paddy Power Gold Cup at 2.20pm.  Unexpected Party is the favourite for the Skelton team but I fancy Stage Star to make a winning return to action.

I wanted to thank everyone for sticking with me while I figured out the meaning of “many”.  It means a lot!  Have a great day!