Summer Recruits

                 Affection - For Sale  
All the winter horses are now turned out to grass for some much deserved R & R and a lot of staff are now on their summer holidays as well.  We have a team of about 20 to race over the summer and as soon as we have a little rain we have some ready to run but it is a little quiet in the coming days.  Steam cleaning, tidying and painting are the main jobs going on at the moment so Pond House is still a hive of activity.

A couple new French recruits who will be making their stable debuts in the coming weeks are Karnaval Point and Affection, the latter is still looking for a new owner!  Karnaval Point is a three-time winner in France and was last in action winning at Auteuil last month after which we claimed him.  He is a six-year-old gelding by Great Pretender who is related to plenty of winners and he looks a good prospect for winning races over here having proven himself to be versatile with regards to trip, track and ground in France thought we will probably wait until we have some rain before running him.  He is a nice sized individual who shows a good attitude at home and we look forward to running him in some handicap chases shortly.

Affection is a super little three-year-old grey filly by Bow Creek who has won four of her ten starts on the flat in France, the latest over 1m4f at Salon De Provence in April.  She has a handicap rating of 83 on the flat and has ran to that level consistently and so is a lovely dual purpose prospect for the summer.  She seemed a little under the weather when she arrived so we gave her an easy time initially but she is now back on the gallops and going well.  She has taken to jumping nicely in our loose school and she doesn’t leave a nut which is always nice, especially with a filly.  We will be looking to get her British career started towards the end of this month and she is one to look forward to.  She could be all yours for £28,000 + Vat so please do get in touch if you would like to know more and own her, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or ring 01884 840715 for more details. 

Captain Boudet is another new recruit who will be racing over the summer in the colours of the David Pipe Racing Club.  He is a seven-year-old grey gelding by Martaline who has won two chases when in the care of Jeremy Scott.  It is fair to say his form is a little ‘in and out’ but on a good day and when at the right sort of handicap mark he usually runs well!  He has form on all sorts of ground but seems to prefer things a bit better and he will be running shortly in handicap chases, probably from 2m3f to three miles depending on the track. 

Big Week for Jack

It is a big week for my son Jack this week and he has his first two GCSE exams starting on Monday and they are set to continue for the next few weeks.  School and studying is probably not Jack’s strong point but in fairness, he has been revising lots and the nervousness on his face before he set off for school this morning showed how much he actually cares and wants to do well even though he says he is not that bothered!  He is staying on at school to do his A levels and once his exams are over he is looking forward to getting some work experience at some different racing yards this summer.  While he will be concentrating on his exams this week he will have half an eye on Bangor on Saturday.  He and his pony, Little Chiefy have an entry in the first 148cm racecourse series pony race.  While we are still waiting for all the details to come through, like timings etc, we do know there are ten entries in the race including the pony that won the final of the series last year.  Jack and his pony have done nothing but improve in the point to point races they have taken part in so far and so they are very much looking forward to getting started ‘properly’.  Handicaps will come into play for the first time in this race which should be a help to Jack.  The only trouble we have is that this longer distance races don’t seem to be very local, with Nottingham, Haydock and Market Rasen all on the horizon after Bangor so we will be putting in some miles!

Staff News

James Shaw is back to work and all recovered from his concussion injury while Martin McIntyre is on the mend but his next assessment is not until next month after which we will of course know more.  Well done to Mia Holmes who finished second aboard her own point to point horse, Lough Owl at Upcott Cross on Sunday, her best result of the season.  Congratulations also to Mia who was up at the British Racing School in Newmarket for a couple of days last week completing assessments for her NVQ Level 2 in racehorse care.   Mia is about to turn 18 next month and has just finished her second season here at Pond House.  She is a good rider and a valuable young member of our team.  Well done also to Ashley Dascombe who had his second winner of the point to point season at Vauterhill last Monday.  He had waited a while for his first winner and then the second came along just 48 hours later!  He plans to ride at Bratton Down point to point on Sunday and then is off back to New Zealand to ride over there for the summer after this and we would like to wish him well in his venture.

Work Experience

We have lots of applications for work experience at this time of year and try to accommodate as many as we can.  At the moment we have a first year vet student from Nottingham with us for two weeks getting some equine experience.  We try to show them all that goes on and start with the basics such as taking temperatures and general husbandry to working with our lab lady, vet and physio and hopefully a day out at the races along the way as well.  Some of them ride, some don’t but they are always willing to learn and they are usually a pleasure to have!  In June we have several younger school aged placements who come for a week to see all what goes on in a racing yard and hopefully their experience may direct them to want to work in the racing industry when they leave school. 

Sales Season

It is at this time of year that the sales season starts to ramp up a gear and next week we have both the Doncaster Spring Store sales followed by the Horse in Training.  Catalogues are out for both and I am busy going through the lots.  If you would like to know more about these or are interested in buying a horse, please do hear in touch we would love to hear from you!