- Monday, 30 January 2023 16:47
- Written by David Pipe
Barrier Peaks Wins Again
The weather continued to play its part last week with freezing nights causing fixture abandonments and making things hard work at home. Temperatures were due to rise throughout the week but it seemed to not happen as quickly as anticipated and we were therefore pretty quiet on the runner’s front for most of it. Our first runners were actually on the flat at Lingfield on Friday. We gave Bashful Boy and Borntobealeader a spin on the all-weather as they really are both waiting for better ground before we see them over hurdles again.
- Monday, 23 January 2023 14:38
- Written by David Pipe
Gericault Roque will wait for Next Season
I have now been back ‘in the office’ for one week since returning from my honeymoon and I have been busy catching up in all departments. While it is lovely to get away, sometimes the extra work before you go away and then after you get back puts added pressure on! Last Monday I went to Hereford with what turned out to be our only runner of the week, Pachacuti. He put a below par seasonal reappearance at Wincanton totally behind him with a good display to be second. He suffered a little interference from the winner at the last hurdle and then again on the run in which didn’t help his cause but he galloped all the way to the line. The stewards did look at the final stages but it was not enough to amend the result. Our horse is relatively inexperienced and he can improve on this next time, possibly with an even greater test of stamina.
- Monday, 16 January 2023 12:58
- Written by David Pipe
Barrier Peaks Wins at Exeter
You will be pleased to hear I have made it back from the Maldives safely where Leanne and I had a lovely week away on our belated honeymoon. We got married on 5th July 2021 but Covid put pay to our original plans to get away and Leanne organised this trip to replace what we had originally planned. We had a fab few days mainly relaxing, eating and drinking with the odd bit of snorkelling mixed in as well. I kept an eye on things from afar but was able to switch off and re-charge the batteries.
- Monday, 09 January 2023 13:23
- Written by David Pipe
Well I am pleased to report that Leanne and I have made it to the Maldives and are on day one of our belated honeymoon. I’m sure you will be delighted to know that the islands are as picturesque as they are on the TV and the weather is sunny and hot!! We travelled over from Gatwick to Dubai before we changed for our flight to Male and the last leg to our island was by sea plane. While I am looking forward to a nice break I shall be in regular contact with the yard and keeping an eye on everything from afar.
- Monday, 02 January 2023 11:41
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Remastered Winner at Kempton
It has been a very busy Festive period and I am looking forward to hopefully having a quieter few days this week. On Boxing Day I was at Wincanton, followed by Kempton, Taunton, Newbury and Cheltenham. My days always start early but they have been even earlier than normal in the last few days and I have clocked up a few miles on the car as well! I nearly didn’t make Kempton on Wednesday due to getting stuck in traffic but we made it in the nick of time and Remastered was a fantastic winner. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions the past week with some good, some bad and some sad all mixed in but that is the nature of our sport and working with horses so we have to enjoy the highs and stick together and keep going through the lows. The staff have a half day holiday today for it being bank holiday and then working hours return to normal tomorrow. Everyone has been working hard to keep the show on the road and a couple of nice winners make everything worthwhile.
- Monday, 26 December 2022 11:32
- Written by G Edwards
Panic Attack & Rosie on Christmas Morning
The last week has flown by, with the return of racing and Christmas festivities it has been a fun, action packed few days. I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day, however you celebrated. Mine followed the usual pattern of feeding the horses, back to the house for the kids to open their presents and then a return to the yard for riding out at 7.30am. Once the morning work was done we enjoyed a nice family lunch, a play with all the new toys before going back for afternoon stables which is a family affair. Father Christmas was very kind to the kids and they had a great day which is the main thing.
- Monday, 19 December 2022 13:50
- Written by David Pipe
Christmas Wishes from Pond House
It has been a frustrating week since last writing with the weather wiping out all the jumps racing and therefore any runners from Pond House. I read an article in the Racing Post with Gary Moore venting his frustrations on the jumps season so far, saying it has been one of the most difficult since he first took out his licence in 1993. They, like us are having a good season on the winner’s front but the weather is just making everything difficult. We have had such a dry winter so far and then the frost has caused so many abandoned fixtures it is difficult for everyone involved. The work continues at home but it has been very difficult to make too many plans with so many question marks caused by the weather.
