Too_Generous_Newton_Abbot

There are three meetings taking place this afternoon, a jumps meeting at Market Rasen and two all-weather flat cards at Lingfield and Southwell.  The prize money on the all-weather is an absolute joke with eight races being run for £34,000 at Southwell and seven races for £30,000 at Lingfield.  As far as I am concerned this is the main reason why owners will leave racing - there is just not a good enough return on their outlay.

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Barton_Stacey_Towcesterweb

It was a good weekend for the stable with the yard in the winners' enclosure on Saturday at Ffos Las courtesy of Poole Master who won the handicap chase in convincing fashion.  Let's just hope that the handicappper doesn't overreact to this success as a mark of 128 looks about right to me.  Obistar ran a promising first race when runner-up in the bumper on the same card - he should come on a bundle for the experience and he looks sure to be winning races.  Meanwhile Junior ran creditably to finish fourth in the West Wales National.

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His_Excellency_Cheltenham_Festival
                      His Excellency

There are just two meetings today at Musselburgh and and all-weather card at Kempton.  David has one runner, His Excellency at the Scottish track in the Scottish Champion chase.  It is a good looking race as you would expect for the prize money on offer.  Our six year old has been running in well some top races but is slowly coming down the handicap.  He carries top weight of 11st 12lb but we expect him to run okay with Tom Scu in the saddle.  Tom's journey up North has been made worhwile as he has picked up rides for Brian Ellison as well.  Nicky Henderson sends plenty of runners up to Scotland and AP and Barry Geraghty are both in action.  The ground is given as good to soft and let's just hope it stays like that.  This must surely be the best ground in the UK at the moment!  The raceourse is right beside the sea which is why it always tends to be better here than most places.

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Home_Run__Boys_web

         Home Run & his Winning Jockey's

I am pleased to say that racing goes ahead at Ffos Las today, though I guess the horses my need to be good at swimming!  Racing is also on at Sandown, Wetherby and two all-weather meetings as well.  David has four runners at the Welsh track, Home Run, Junior, Poole Master & Obistar.

Home Run takes in the prestigious Welsh Champion Hurdle at Ffos Las this afternoon and while it is a competitive affair, he should give young Kieron Edgar a good spin round.  He has been an incredible horse for the stable since joining us from a French claimer for less than £20,000.  In his time at Pond House he racked up an incredible five timer (for four different claiming jockeys) in the 2012/13 season and has already won at the home of National Hunt racing, Cheltenham this term.

You don’t have to spend a king’s ransom to buy a good horse and Home Run is a great advertisement for the yard and David’s keen eye for a bargain.  We have a long and illustrious history of finding good value horses from claimers – just look at dual Cheltenham Festival winner  (and twice Grand National third) Blowing Wind, Cheltenham Festival winner Royal Predica, and Festival runner-up Notus de la Tour to name just three…all bought from France.

We keep up to date with all of the French form and are always on the lookout for good value horses.  If you would be interested in purchasing a horse from France, please feel free to contact us for a no obligation chat to discuss your requirements…perhaps you could own the next Home Run?

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Vieux_Lion_Rouge_Wincanton_300114web

Vieux Lion Rouge (pictured above) followed up his recent course success with victory under a penalty at Wincanton in the novices' hurdle.  Our five year old son of Sabiango has now won both of his hurdling starts with any amount in hand and was extending his record to five wins from six starts in total.  David says that he may well step him up in class now and he could contest the Neptune novices' hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.  I see that one fearless punter had £5,000 on to win £1,000 - I bet he was holding his breath approaching the last!  Former Irish point-to-point winner Davy Doubt made a promising start for the yard when runner-up in the bumper, while Bygones Sovereign picked up more prize money by finishing third under conditional jockey Tom Bellamy in the competitive handicap hurdle.

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               Vieux Lion Rouge

I am pleased to report that racing goes ahead at Wincanton this afternoon.  The planned morning inspection was cancelled after no rain overnight and temperatures did not drop below freezing.  That is good news for the yard as David has seven runners at the track.  There are also two all-weather meetings taking place today at Kempton and Southwell.  Vieux Lion Rouge is the first runner of the day and he is looking to follow up his debut hurdling success at the track last time out.  He is now four from five career starts and made a very pleasing debut last time.  Three of his wins have come on heavy going so he will handle conditions today.  He will go off the short priced favourite but he does look the form horse of the race.  There is a valuable handicap hurdle race on the card and David has three horses in the race.  Bygones Soveriegn (Tom Bellamy), Ainsi Fideles (Tom Scu) and Martial Law (Conor O'Farrell) all look to have some sort of chance so it will be interesting to see who comes home in front out of the trio! Bygones Sovereign has been in excellent form of late, having won at Ascot on his penultimate start and then running well in the Pertemps race at Warwick last time.  Ainsi Fideles would surely have won last time out at Sedgefield if he had not have fallen at the second last and is the choise of Tom Scu.  Martial Law is returning from a long absence but is in good form at home and gets in the race with a light weight. 

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Chester__Des_Douglas_web

With the abandonment of Leicester, Ludlow and Newcastle, the only meeting that has survived today is the all-weather flat fixture at Kempton...I always said what a good idea these all-weather tracks were!  Everywhere else is washed out and that was almost the case at Taunton yesterday afternoon.  The ground was absolutely bottomless - a couple of the races were slower than the standard time by over a minute!  Of our runners, I thought that Thomas Junior ran creditably to finish third behind odds-on favourite Milo Man and he should now be eligible for handicaps, while Western Diva put up a good first effort for the yard by finishing runner-up in the closing bumper.  It is difficult to know what to make of the form as they should not come up against such testing conditions again any time soon.

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