- Tuesday, 22 October 2013 07:29
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
There are four meetings to look forward to this afternoon - three on the flat at Yarmouth, Lingfield and Kempton as well as a jumps card at Exeter. The ground at the Devon track is officially being described as good/soft, although judging by the amount of rain we have had in Brixham I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was considerably softer. It was a similar story yesterday where the ground at Pontefract finished up being heavy - the 2m2f handicap was 35.08 seconds slower than the standard time for the race...just think how far a horse can run in that sort of time! The stable has no runners this afternoon.
- Monday, 21 October 2013 07:21
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
What a great performance from Kings Palace to win the 3m1 1/2f novices' hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday by a very impressive eighteen lengths. Prominent throughout he moved effortlessly into the lead and gradually drew further and further away. The runner-up (although not proven at the trip) was rated 131 and the third won a Welsh National last season, so the form looks distinctly useful. He has only had five starts to date (only three of those over hurdles), so let's hope that he can continue to progress. He is versatile too, possessing the pace for 2m4f while clearly staying further. I thought that Vazaro Delafayette also ran a sound first race under rules when finishing third in the bumper on the same card - this looked like a hot race and he appears to be a winner waiting to happen. Already a winner of a point-to-point, we know he can jump and is another to look forward to for the future.
- Sunday, 20 October 2013 09:26
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Going up the Gallops
Today there are two meetings, a flat card at Bath and a good jumping card at Kempton. I am most looking forward to the 4.25pm race at Kempton where Rock on Ruby takes on The New One. If you are going to Kempton you will hear a noisy Italian if The New One wins, good luck Gino! David does not have any runners today but we have a few entries in the coming days so keep checking back here for all the news.
- Saturday, 19 October 2013 07:02
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Kings Palace runs today at Cheltenham
Today we have five meetings, three on the flat at Ascot, Catterick and Wolverhampton and two jumps cards at Cheltenham and Kelso. It is a fantastic flat card at Ascot, Champions day. We have three Group 1 races plus a Group 2 and a Group 3. The last race is for apprentice jockeys but even this handicap carries £50,000 in prize money. The Cheltenham card over the stick is also a cracker. The money race is the 3.45pm handicap chase over three miles with £50,00 in prize money up for grabs. David has four runners at Cheltenham plus Seattle Drive running in the 3.55pm handicap hurdle at Kelso. Seattle Drive his having his first run for the stable after being claimed off the flat. It is his first run in a handicap having had three runs in Ireland so it wil be interesting to see how he gets on. Mikey Ennis rides claimiing seven pounds off his back. Meanwhile at Cheltenham, Kings Palace is our first runner in the 2.00pm race. He has some useful bumper form and won nicely over hurdles at Fontwell last time despite running a bit green. The third horse from that race ha come out and won since so the form looks solid. This is a big step up in class so we will see how he gets on.
- Friday, 18 October 2013 07:17
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It was a good day for the yard at Wincanton's first jumps fixture of the season with a winner and a second from our only two runners. A winner last week at Exeter, Standing Ovation (pictured above) appears to have improved again since then. Jumping with more fluencey and travelling much more kindly yesterday in the first time cheekpieces, Conor O'Farrell found himself in front - a position that he never relinquished. He looked to be idling throughout and perhaps won with slightly more in hand than the 1 1/2 length winning margin would suggest. My Brother Sylvest ran a solid race to finish second on his return to hurdles. Although on a favourable mark compared to his chase rating he was unable to concede 12lbs to last time out winner Alwaystheoptimist - it would appear that he is better over fences than timber.
- Thursday, 17 October 2013 07:20
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It's the start of the new jumps season at Wincanton this afternoon and the stable has a couple of runners at the track. Both Standing Ovation and My Brother Sylvest won last time out and it would be great if they could follow-up this afternoon. I thought that Standing Ovation (pictured above) received a fantastic ride from Conor O'Farrell to win at Exeter and he is in the saddle again this afternoon, although he is 7lbs higher in the weights owing to his penalty. My Brother Sylvest has won a couple of decent chases and reverts to hurdles today - he is another that is due to go up in future handicaps, while his hurdle mark is also lower than his chase rating. Tom Scudamore is in the saddle once again. There are three other meetings taking place today at Brighton and Kempton on the flat and Uttoxeter over the jumps.
- Wednesday, 16 October 2013 07:12
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
We have had a wet start to the morning down here in Brixham with some localised flooding so I'm sure there will be a raft of non-runners as there has been over the last couple of days. There were no less than 51 non-runners yesterday so that is all you need to know about how soft the ground went. I know it sounds obvious, but if you are considering having a little flutter today, make sure that your selection has proven form on rain softened ground. There are four meetings to look forward to - three on the flat at Nottingham, Lingfield and Kempton and a National Hunt card at Wetherby and it is good to see that jumps card has managed to secure the most prize money this afternoon.
