- Monday, 01 June 2026 14:36
- Written by David Pipe
American Sniper Winner at Newton Abbot
The good form for the yard has continued and our three runners in the last week have yielded two winners and a third. American Sniper returned to form at Newton Abbot last Wednesday and he was given a great front running ride by Rian Corcoran to win cosily. The handicapper had given him some help and dropped in grade of race he was able to put in a dominant display carrying top weight. He enjoys the quicker ground and as long as the handicapper doesn’t over-react I am sure he can be winning again.
Ocean Heights ran a pleasing enough race on his return to hurdling to be third at Newton Abbot on the same card, staying on nicely towards the end to suggest he may even get further over obstacles and he is definitely capable of getting a first win over jumps.
Mancero Winner at Worcester
Mancero won for the first time in Britain at Worcester on Thursday and it was great to reward his owner’s patience. It has not been all smooth sailing since he came over from France a year ago and he has always shown us more at home than he has on the track but he has steadily been improving in recent starts and this was a lovely first win. He had the assistance of champion jockey Sean Bowen in the saddle who gave him a great ride and now has a 100% strike rate for me! Our four-year-old was doing all his best work at the end, suggesting he will get further in trip as well and so we will see what the handicapper does on Tuesday and go from there. I am sure this will have done the horses confidence the world of good so I hope we can see more improvement from him now going forwards.
This Week
Things remain relatively quiet on the runner’s front in the coming days while we hopefully wait for some rain to arrive. Our first runner of the week will be at Warwick on Wednesday evening where Best Night runs in the mare’s handicap hurdle with Rian Corcoran on board. She won two races over hurdles last season after which she found her raised handicap mark tough but she has dropped a few pounds now and back against her own sex I hope she has a good chance, especially with Rian’s five pound claim a big help.
On Thursday, we have both our recent French winners Karnaval Point and Grand Clermont entered in the 2m5f handicap chase and one of them is likely to run. Karnaval Point was a winner at Worcester over 2m4f while Grand Clermont won at the track over three miles. We will see what the weather a ground is going to be before deciding plans on Tuesday.
At the weekend, we have entries at Worcester for Captain Boudet and Purple Owl. Captain Boudet will be making his stable debut should he run, in the colours of the David Pipe Racing Club. He is a dual chase winner for previous connections and has settled in well since arriving a few weeks ago. He is certainly a character but he does have ability and we are looking forward to getting him started. Purple Owl could run in the maiden hurdle on the card. He is better than he has shown in recent starts and seems in good form at home. Keep checking the Daily News on the website for all the latest news on the stable runners.
David Pipe Racing Club
The David Pipe Racing Club horses are in a rich vein of form at the moment, with their last two runners winning and lots to look forward to. It is only £150 to join the club for the year, with regular runners and updates and stable visit in September to look forward to, now is a great time to join! The current horses in the Club are, Bashful Boy, Best Night, Captain Boudet, Grand Clermont and Karnaval Point. For more information or to join, please ring the office on 01884 840715 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
New Recruits
We were delighted to secure two new recruits from the sales last week, with the first having already joined us from Ireland over the weekend. Thetype Istitle is a new acquisition for the Tattersalls Ireland sales and is a lovely four-year-old filly by Feel Like Dancing. She has just had the three starts in Irish point to points and finished second on her last start only eight days ago. She is for an owner returning to the sport and we look forward to getting her out in a bumper in the coming months. The other new recruit is a seven-year-old grey gelding called Shadowfax of Rohan who will be joining us later this week. He is a two-time chase winner from four starts and will provide his new owner with some fun over the summer…he is looking for a new owner….so it could be you! He looks good value at just £5,500 (plus sales commission, vetting and transport). Please get in touch is you would like some more information as I think he will be winning more racing in the coming months.
May Weather
The weather in May remained relatively dry with just 54mm of rain through the month over eight days. That takes the yearly total to 543.5mm of rain which is nearly 200mm of rain more than to the same point last year. The rainfall in May was double what we had in May 2025 but last year in April we did have a fair bit more rain than we had in the month this time around. The wettest May we have on our records was 136.5mm way back in 2002, with the driest being 17mm in 2020. Looking forwards, June has been fairly dry in recent years but hopefully we will get some rain this month!
Point to Point and Pony Race Update
It has just been announced that Umberleigh point to point has been abandoned this weekend so it means the 2025/26 point to point season has come to a premature end and it will not have its usual finale. It is a little sad for all those involved in organising and participating in the sport but what can you do in such dry weather conditions and you cannot blame anyone involved. Fingers crossed the new season will be back with a bang in the autumn.
We should have news later this week about a revised plan for racecourse pony racing to resume. It will be good to get some days back on for all the kids involved with a hope to return to the original fixture list later in the summer.
Stable Staff Golf
Last week, my son Jack and Gemma travelled to Newmarket to play in the stable staff golf qualifier. 44 players took part and both did well, with Jack finishing twelfth and Gemma in 24th. Seeing as though a lot of players were on their home course I think you can upgrade their performance! They met lots of interesting people and Kieran Fallon senior watched Jack tee off on the opening hole. He was due to be playing but had broken his finger earlier that day riding out! Chris Durham, travelling head person was also playing. He is travelling head person to Charlie Appleby but used to work here at Pond House. He is best remembered here for crashing my dad’s truck into a ditch one day but he was very young at the time! Gemma and Jack both enjoyed their day and are looking forward to playing in the Malborough competition at the end of this month.
