- Monday, 27 April 2026 12:55
- Written by David Pipe
Thanksforthehelp runs at Punchestown
The 2025-26 season came to its conclusion on Saturday and we get a few days break from jumps racing on this side of the Irish Sea before it all starts again on Saturday with meetings at Hexham and Uttoxeter. I do always think there should be a longer gap before we start again but I am not sure anything will be changing anytime soon!
So, while flat racing takes centre stage over here this week, we do of course have the Punchestown Festival which gets underway on Tuesday. We are heading over with Thanksforthehelp who runs in the Adare Manor Opportunity Final handicap hurdle, the first race on Wednesday at 2.30pm. This will be the third time our nine-year-old has run in the race, having finished third in 2022 and he won the race last year. Last year he was partnered to success by Gavin Brouder but it is great this year that Mr McManus is allowing Rian Corcoran the opportunity to go over and have his first ride in Ireland. This race last year was our geldings last victory and he won from a mark of 116. He got put up eleven pounds for that win and as a consequence has struggled a bit this winter in the grip on the handicapper. He has now come down in the weights to 117 over here but the Irish handicapper has given us 119! It is a very competitive 25 runner handicap once again but he loves his trip over to the Emerald Isle so I hope he can spark back into form again and have a good each way chance.
I am heading over to Punchestown for the race and then I shall stay for the sales which take place after racing on Thursday. It is always an enjoyable trip and the Irish look after us very well and I am sure I will enjoy a Guinness or two while I am there!
This Week
Thanksforthehelp will be our only runner of this week and we have no runners on the flat but are likely to have a couple of entries at Uttoxeter on Saturday when jumps racing resumes. Saccary is looking for his first win over hurdles after finishing runner up the last twice while Grand Clermont could make his British and stable debut. He is a new recruit for the David Pipe Racing Club who is slightly older in years but he certainly knows how to win. He is the winner of eight of his career starts with a 20% strike rate and has a lot of placings to his name as well. We claimed him after his last run, a win at Bordeaux Le Bouscat. It does sometimes take these French horses a little while to acclimatize to the English style of racing when they come over but he has settled in well at home and shows a great attitude which is what drew us to him with his runs in France. A rating of 114 may be a little on the high side but he has to start somewhere and he is sure to give is a lot of fun over the Summer whatever happens this weekend.
Pony Racing and Point to Pointing
It is of course a bank holiday weekend coming up and there is plenty of point to point action taking places over the course of the three days. Jack Pipe is hoping to ride his pony, Little Chiefy at Flete Park again on Saturday but there were not many entries and so this is a slight doubt as to whether the race will go ahead. Fingers crossed it will. We have made an entry for Ben Lilly at South Hill point to point near Dulverton on Sunday and he could run in the conditions race on the card. It is a course where the ground is likely to be softer than most and it is not easy for these point to point courses to do a lot of watering when the weather is as dry as it has been.
James Shaw is recovering well from being knocked out in a fall at Cotley point to point just over a week ago. He did pop into see us last week and has been up at the Injured Jockeys Hub in Taunton where they are keeping an eye on his recovery. He has an appointment there on Tuesday and is hoping to return to work a later this week.
Season Reflections
We finished the 2025-26 season with 30 winners on the board. Obviously I would have liked more and more high profile successes but on the flip side of that we have had significantly less runners than we did last season. This is due to us having slightly less horses but also with some nice youngsters in the team they don’t run as often as the older, more hardened campaigners and we have hopefully been minding them for the future. It has also been a difficult time with our potential stable star, Windbeneathmywings not making it to the track and then a couple of our main flagbearers not quite performing as well as we would have hoped. It has been a quiet end to the season for us, partly caused by the ground drying up too much but rest assured we have a nice small team ready for the summer where we hope to get a few winners on the board early, something that did not really happen last season. We are of course in the process of recruiting for the season ahead and have already added some nice new members to the team with the aim to add more. You cannot stand still in this sport, like with all sports and you have to aim higher and do better which is what we plan to do. Dan Skelton has raised the bar higher again this season by what he has achieved and it is what we all have to do. You cannot dwell on the past and certainly have to looks forwards, rebuild and progress.
Kingston Queen finishes the season as our leading horse and is still very much a horse I hold in high regard. She had five starts, winning nicely on hurdling debut at Chepstow before finishing third to the eventual Supreme novice hurdle winner at Cheltenham in December. We were disappointed at the time but hindsight is a wonderful thing and it was a good run. She added a Graded win to her CV when winning at Warwick in February beating a subsequent Cheltenham Festival winner that day over 2m3f. Things didn’t fall right for us at Cheltenham in March and basically the trip and ground were not ideal but she ran with credit. We then took her to Fairyhouse for a good mare’s hurdle and while I thought she had a good each way chance in a competitive race, she ran well below the form we know she can. She didn’t seem the handle the travelling and staying away from home as well as we hoped and so I think we can put a line through this run. She will return to action on the autumn having what looks a very attractive rating of 129 and we really have not seen the best of her over hurdles as yet.
Jaipaletemps finishes the season as the leading horse numerically and what as season he had, winning five times and being places numerous times as well. He started winning from a mark of 94 at Ffos Las in November and finishes it having a rating of 123. He was partnered to success by Rian Corcoran on each occasion and indeed gave Rian his first win as a professional the first time they teamed up together. While life will be tougher for our seven-year-old next season I wouldn’t bet on further improvement. It took him a little while to get used to racing in England but his performances are characterised by his will to win and love of racing and life in general. He has a great attitude and really tries so I am sure if we can place him in the right races there is more to come.
Phantomofthepoints won a nice race at Warwick and was placed in some valuable handicaps as well and similar comments apply to Neon Moon. He chips in with a nice win each season and returns to form when the handicapper gives him a chance. He keeps coming back year in year out and runs to a decent level and is one of my son Jack’s favourite horses. Gericault Roque was limited to just three starts but picked up some valuable prize money in finishing second at Ascot in a good race in February. Despite reaching his elder years he remains talented if fragile and we hope to get in back for an autumn campaign after a summer break.
Horses that have won twice this season for us include, Royal Mer, Gentleman Toboot, Best Night, Harry Junior, Itseemslikeit, Eton Mes and No Walkover. All have gained valuable wins and can continue to progress this season. No Walkover is a very talented individual with some high class bumper form in the book. His two wins came at Chepstow and Aintree and while he disappointed at Newbury that run was too bad to be true and we were gutted he got balloted out of the Champion bumper at Cheltenham. He has a big engine and he is one to very much look forward to over hurdles in the autumn.
While King Turgeon didn’t manage to win this season, he remains in good form and he will be back in the action, quite possibly heading back for the National fences at Aintree in November. While I cannot mention all the horses here they all play their part and can win races if they have not done so far already! We have some lovely youngsters and are looking to build the team further in the coming months. Windbeneathmywings has recovered well from his setbacks and fingers crossed we will be all set for a high class hurdling campaign in the winter.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my owners and staff for all their help and support over the past twelve months, for without this none of it would be possible. Horses certainly take you on a journey and there are many highs and lows. I always want better and that is the plan for the season ahead and I hope you all will enjoy following and supporting the team again throughout.
