- Saturday, 17 January 2015 12:21
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
With the abandonment of Fontwell this afternoon there is only one all-weather flat card remaining on these shores at Lingfield. Even so, there is some good jumping action in Ireland on Attherace from Leopardstown. Unless someone comes up with a point-to-point to go to, it really does look like Sunday is going to be a day of rest in the Barnes household! Champion jockey A P McCoy has travelled over to the Emerald Isle for three rides, the pick of which looks to be Snake Eyes in the £100,000 handicap hurdle. The worst prize money on the card is for the bumper, but even that is worth £8,000 - the courses over here could do with taking note.
- Saturday, 17 January 2015 08:41
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It is a big day for racing with four meetings taking place this afternoon and three competitive jumps cards from Ascot, Taunton and Haydock as well as an all-weather flat card at Lingfield. The stable has runners at all three National Hunt meetings and I will be the busiest today as I am off to Taunton where we have five runners. Mount Haven (pictured above), For 'N' Against, Vif Argent, Softsong and Virtuel d'Oudon represent the stable at Taunton, Amigo runs in the Peter Marsh at Haydock (Broadway Buffalo is a non-runner), while David goes to Ascot where Willem makes his debut for the stable. This ex-French gelding had some decent form in France and was close up when falling at the last in a good race at Auteuil - the testing ground should prove no hindrance to him having won on heavy ground at Compiegne. It looks like a good race but a big run is still expected.
- Friday, 16 January 2015 08:23
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
With Musselburgh passing an early morning inspection, there are three meetings taking place this afternoon. The Scottish track hosts the only jumps card of the day while there are two all-weather flat meetings from Lingfield and Wolverhampton. There are seven races at Lingfield, although ironically enough the one with the most prize money has attracted the fewest runners. The conditions stakes could end up with just three participants, while the three 51-65 handicaps have attracted a combined total of 38 runners - it would seem obvious that trainers do not want these conditions races.
- Thursday, 15 January 2015 08:39
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It was certainly a day to remember yesterday at Newbury as stable jockey Tom Scudamore reached his fastest ever 100 winners and David recorded a double courtesy of Brook and Smiles For Miles. Brook (pictured above) is owned by the "Pipe Dreaming Ladies" and no joke, they must be among the noisiest group of owners I have ever met! In all seriousness though, it would be wonderful if all owners shared their infectious enthusiasm for their horses and the sport. They were even celebrating with champagne before the race, while afterwards they made their way to the Royal Box for refills - I bet the Queen was wondering who on earth was making all the noise in her box! Fortunately they all had drivers, otherwise I don't think they would have made it home.
- Wednesday, 14 January 2015 08:27
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
There are now only three meetings taking place this afternoon following the abandonment of Newcastle's National Hunt fixture due to frost. That leaves us with a jumps card from Newbury and two all-weather flat fixtures from Lingfield and Kempton. I will be flying off to Newbury today with David, although to be honest I am not much looking forward to the flight...I have never been great with heights and the weather isn't really conducive to a smooth trip! I drove through a blizzard on Telegraph Hill (just outside of Exeter racecourse) and if Newbury has had any of that the ground is going to be extremely testing for all of the horses. The stable has six runners today; Brook, Good Value and Classical Art all run in the juvenile hurdle, while All Force Majeure, Smiles For Miles (pictured above) and Chic Theatre make up the rest of our representatives.
- Tuesday, 13 January 2015 08:44
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
There are just two meetings taking place this afternoon with a jumps card at Fakenham and an all-weather flat meeting at Southwell. The stable has one runner at Fakenham; Low Key who takes in the maiden hurdle. Our gelding was rated 82 on the level and was last seen winning a lady amateur riders race on soft ground at Newbury by a wide margin. It would appear that this is potentially one of the best maiden hurdles ever staged at the track - John Ferguson's Zip Top was second to Camelot in the Racing Post Trophy as a two year old and attained a rating of 110 on the level, while James Fanshawe's Shewaiman contested the Ascot Gold Cup last year and was rated 95 on the flat. Even so, I still expect a bold show from Low Key and stable jockey Tom Scudamore is in the saddle.
- Monday, 12 January 2015 09:16
- Written by Chelsea Morgan
It is a quiet start to the day with just two meetings taking place - a National Hunt fixture from Plumpton and an all-weather flat meeting from Wolverhampton. Ayr has already been abandoned due to storm damage caused by unseasonably high winds. The stable has no runners this afternoon, although stable jockey Tom Scudamore heads to Plumpton for a couple of rides for David Bridgwater. Scu may even have had a spot of Sunday lunch yesterday as one of his mounts, Bravo Piquet carries the welter burden of 12-5 - it looks to have a decent chance to boot.
