- Monday, 11 August 2025 06:26
- Written by David Pipe
There were no runners for the team last week and looking ahead to the coming days it will be a similar story but jumps racing does return at the weekend following its mini-break with Market Rasen and Perth on Saturday. Keep checking the Daily News section on the website for all the latest news on any stable runners.
Jim Old Golf Day
Last week I had two teams play in the Jim Old Charity Golf Day in Malborough which, as always was an enjoyable day out while racing money for the Injured Jockeys Fund. Our teams did well, the team I was not in, included former employees who used to work with me right back in my pointing days, Tim Eades and Ken Rixon. They did very well and finished fourth. My team, which included Josh Apiafi and Matt Williams, were not far behind them on points and we finished eleventh. Not bad with about 40 teams taking part. Well done to the winning team which included AP McCoy and Mick Fitzgerald and the runners up, were a team representing Walters Plant Hire, which included Sam Thomas and Brendan Powell.
Best of luck to my son Jack and Gemma who are playing in the stable staff golf competition at Wincanton today organised by NARS. Jack is a recent recruit to the games but appears to be quite a natural. It will be interesting to see how he gets on while Gemma says she is making up the numbers! This event is an individual regional competition where the top ten qualify for a finals day in Warwickshire.
July Weather
The weather in the coming day’s promises to be warm and the theme of this year continues with no rain in the forecast. We had 23mm of rain at Pond House in July, which is 45mm less than what we had in the same month last year. Rain fell on just six days compared to ten twelve months ago while the running total for the year is about 330mm less than to the same point in 2024. We have had just 418mm of rain up until 31st July while we were on 749mm for the same period last year. While it does seem dry however, from 2015 to 2019, we are not that far behind the year totals to the same point in those years this time around and we are ahead of where we were on 2022 when we had only had 382mm up until the end of July. While we always think weather is unique at the time, when looking back over records you can see sometimes that it has been similar in the past, we may just not remember it!
Martin McIntyre
I am pleased to report that amateur jockey Martin McIntyre is back to work this week. He has been off with a shoulder injury since April following a fall at Ludlow. There have been a few complications with the injury and it has been a long recovery process. He has been making good use of the Injured Jockeys hub at Taunton in recent weeks and he is looking forward to getting back on board a horse.
Pond House Team
Green Sky (IRE)
A new recruit this summer who was last seen finishing a close second over hurdles at Ayr in April. She is yet to win over hurdles but looks a winner in waiting having won on the flat and shown a good level of ability on the level. She looks capable of progressing under both codes from her current rating and is a lovely dual-purpose prospect who seems to act on any ground.
Hammer Dan (IRE)
Won two hurdle races last summer and then picked up a little injury which kept him off the track until June this year. Has ran really well on each of his three starts to be second twice and then third last time at Worcester. We felt that maybe his wind has been catching him out at the end of his races so he has just started back cantering after a wind operation. The handicapper keeps nudging him up for his consistency but he still has scope for improvement and he will jump a fence at some point as well.
Harley’s Pride (IRE)
A nice mare who has just had the two runs in bumpers, finishing fourth in Ireland on debut and then running better than her finishing position suggests on stable debut at Southwell. Found everything happening a bit too quickly that day but galloped on strongly to the line and the jockey couldn’t pull her up after the line! She has strengthened up a lot over the summer. She has schooled well at home and will be running over hurdles this season.
Harry Junior (IRE)
Closely related to the owners very good horse, Harry Senior but is yet to show much on the racecourse in just three outings to date. A handsome big individual he did not run too badly in a bumper at Chepstow on his career debut but was disappointing in two tries over hurdles. He had a bit of a stop start season last time and has been very backward but has had a nice long break and hopefully he can show more when he returns to action this autumn.
Itseemslikeit
A giant, good-looking individual he has taken time to grow into his frame. After winning at maiden hurdle at Ffos as in November 2023, not much has gone right since. Had just the two outings last season and after disappointing on his return we had him primed to make his chasing debut when he cut himself badly the day before he was due to run. He did not run too badly back over hurdles after this but then the ground dried out too much and so we turned him away. He has summered well before wind surgery and with a smooth run on things this time around we hope he can be progressive over fences from his current mark.
