- Monday, 12 December 2016 16:31
- Written by David Pipe
Another week, another three winners taking our seasonal tally to 39 and we are ticking along nicely in the run-up to the Christmas period with the horses in good form. Add to that a number of exciting new recruits from last Friday’s Cheltenham sales and it was an enjoyable and fruitful week. We are in something of a transitional phase at Pond House at present with a number of nice youngsters arriving throughout the course of the season making a youthful and very promising core to supplement our older campaigners, horses that you will hopefully be hearing plenty more of for years to come.
Exciting novice chase prospect Champers On Ice (pictured above) started the ball rolling when making his long-awaited debut over fences at Uttoxeter on a very foggy Tuesday afternoon. One of the very best novices over hurdles last season when third in the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival, our former Irish point-to-point winner has always looked like a chaser in the making and he did not disappoint with a more than satisfactory round of jumping under very testing conditions. He will have learned plenty from this and will clearly go on to better things.
Wednesday saw an even more facile success when Great Tempo made the long journey north to Hexham worthwhile with a very easy win in the juvenile maiden hurdle, much as his cramped odds of 1/25 suggested he should. He had shown good form in France, but I must confess I was more than just a little anxious watching the race as memories of 1989 flooded back when my dad and Tom Scudamore’s father Peter were beaten at Ludlow with 1/8 chance Kabartaylar. Fortunately I need not have worried and it was nice that Peter was on hand to see the winner in. The race was certainly not the most competitive of contests, but it showed that Great Tempo handled the conditions well and is another who could prove a nice recruit to the Pond House team.
The across the card double was completed when Rathealy won a competitive seller at Leicester under a good ride from Michaeal Heard who was positive aboard our five year old throughout. He will be kept to this type of grade and should continue to be competitive.
There were a number of other creditable performances during the course of the week, not least from Starchitect who made a satisfactory chase debut in a hot looking novices’ chase at Bangor on Friday. Barring a bad mistake at the last he jumped well and he should be winning his share of races over the larger obstacles. Miss Tynte also shaped with promise in the bumper at Carlisle on Sunday, travelling strongly until weakening into fourth close home. A return to a more conventional track could see her step up on this debut effort for the stable.
As I have already alluded to, we were busy at the sales last Friday after racing, securing four nice young horses. Two of them; Poker Play and Max do Brazil boasted some very decent form in their native France and rate exciting prospects, while Timeforben was a point-to-point winner in Ireland. I also picked up a beautiful three year old filly by Presenting and if her looks are anything to go by, you will be hearing plenty more of her. She is currently looking for an owner – and better still, you can name her yourself! If you would like to join the ranks of owner at Pond House, do feel free to contact me and we can discuss any requirements you may have.
Looking to the week ahead we will have four runners at Wincanton tomorrow as Citrus and Carqalin contest the novices’ handicap hurdle, while Gary Charm and Café de Paris take in the staying handicap chase. Vincent’s Forever is likely to run in the juvenile hurdle at Newbury on Wednesday, while Ballywilliam could make his chasing debut on the same card. There is an exciting card at Ascot on Saturday and Un Temps Pour Tout could revert back to hurdles in the Grade One Long Walk. He made a successful reappearance over timber at Aintree last month before disappointing in the Hennessy at Newbury. He has been in good form at home since and is a top class individual on his day.
As usual, for all the latest running plans from the yard you can keep up to date with Chester’s Daily Chat or follow us on Twitter @DavidPipeRacing.
