- Saturday, 08 August 2015 07:44
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Today there are six flat cards at Ascot, Haydock, Newmarket, Redcar, Ayr and Lingfield. The big meeting of the day takes place at Ascot as they hold their annual Shergar Cup match between the lady jockeys, Europe, Great Britain & Ireland and the rest of the World. You will probably disagree with me, but it really doesn't get me that excited - I am more interested in horse racing than some of these fancy gimmicks. One of the real problems with the event is how similar the colours are as well - while it is a team event, it is very difficult to distinguish between individual horses for betting purposes. Surely it would have been better for the horses to run in their owners' colours and wear a distinguishing sash or cap for each team (you would only need four different colours)...hardly rocket science in my opinion!
- Friday, 07 August 2015 07:38
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Day five of our Summer sabbatical and there are five meetings taking place on the level this afternoon. The action takes place at Musselburgh, Brighton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Haydock. It is a fairly nondescript sort of a day with a class 2 handicap from Musselburgh the highlight of the day - not great for a Friday afternoon I am sure you will agree. Meanwhile over in Ireland there is an evening meeting on the level from Tipperary which has attracted some competitive racing, including a couple of Listed races.
- Thursday, 06 August 2015 07:34
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Day four of our Summer sabbatical and there are six flat meetings taking place on the level with the action coming from Brighton, Haydock, Wolverhampton, Sandown, Southwell and Newcastle. I could tell you straight away without looking who would be offering the lowest prize money - Newcastle have just £30,000 up for grabs across their seven race card. The stable has a rare flat runner this afternoon as Race To Glory competes in the 1m6f handicap at Haydock at 5.10pm - he has his first start on the flat since finishing runner-up at Thirsk in September of last year, the form of which has turned out okay with the horses finishing first and third both winning subsequently. He will be partnered by former stable amateur Mikey Ennis who teamed up with David earlier in the flat season for a success at Windsor.
- Wednesday, 05 August 2015 07:40
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
David had just the one runner yesterday as Kie ran in the 1m6f handicap on the flat at Salisbury. I thought that he ran okay to finish fourth, although considering his subsequent exploits over hurdles and fences I thought that a flat mark of 49 looked quite interesting. It goes to show that it isn't very often that the handicapper 'let's one in' under either code, flat or jumps. I would imagine that he will be reverting to obstacles when the jumping recommences after our summer break. There are no runners from the stable this afternoon, although Race To Glory runs on the level tomorrow at Haydock and our former amateur rider Mikey Ennis will be in the saddle.
- Tuesday, 04 August 2015 08:02
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It is day two of jump racing's Summer break and I have to say that I am missing the action already! There are four flat cards taking place on these shores with action from Salisbury, Catterick, Chelmsford City and Ripon. Meanwhile, just like yesterday the Irish are hosting a jumps card at Roscommon and there is no shortage of runners. Indeed, the smallest field is in the bumper which has attracted twelve participants - perhaps we could learn something from their model? David sends out one runner on the level this afternoon as Kie competes in the 1m6f handicap at Salisbury at 5pm. He finished runner-up on the flat over two miles as a three year old and has since developed into a very useful hurdler/chaser - David looks to have found him a good opportunity and I must admit that a mark of 49 looks tempting. He will be partnered by promising apprentice jockey Tom Marquand so let's hope for the best.
- Monday, 03 August 2015 08:13
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
I must admit, I'm afraid I hate this time of the year! While I love my flat racing, it just isn't the same when there is no jump racing to watch and there is nothing on these shores until a week on Wednesday. The flat action takes place from Ripon, Nottingham, Carlisle and Windsor and if like me you love a bit of National Hunt racing then you are going to have to make do with the card from Cork over in Ireland. Unsurprisingly there are no runners from the stable today. There is obviously a market for a jumps meeting at this time of year - Cork have 22, 23 and 24 runner fields...talk about competitive, I wouldn't fancy trying to pick all of the winners! Windsor's evening fixture will seem a bit strange without the presence of now retired champion Richard Hughes on the card - during the last five years he has ridden over twice as many winners as any other rider.
- Sunday, 02 August 2015 10:27
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
Art of War & A Hairy Koala
The Galway Festival draws to a conclusion this afternoon with the final day of action. It has been a great week of competitive action and while Dermot Weld as enjoyed some success and a lot of his horses have run very well it has not been the dominance we have seen in some years. Jumps action takes place at Market Rasen this afternoon but David does not have any runners. There is also flat racing at Chepstow, and Chester. There is a 10 day break in the jumps programme after today and action dopes not return until Wednesday 12th August at Newton Abbot. I promise I will not start on about race planning again right now!
