- Tuesday, 10 January 2012 08:48
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
- Monday, 09 January 2012 08:35
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
Consigliere en-route to victory at Wincanton
Picture by kind permission of Steven Kemp
*Glassawine, Non-runner 4.10pm Taunton*
It was another excellent weekend for the yard with a double at Wincanton on Saturday, followed by another success at Hereford on Sunday. It was good to see Consigliere back in the winner's enclosure again after a couple of years in the wilderness. He was finally back down to a feasible handicap mark and he clearly appreciates the prevailing ground conditions. He might well get three miles which would certainly give David more options - let's just hope that the handicapper does not overreact and it is not another two years before we see him winning again.
- Sunday, 08 January 2012 00:00
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
The stable has three runners at Hereford this afternoon - Chartreux, Piraya and The Tatkin. Chartreux was a very useful handicap hurdler (and a winning point-to-pointer) who makes his debut over fences in the 3m beginners chase. Remember, he was sent off favourite for the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March - he should make a nice novice and I will be fascinated to see how he gets on.
- Saturday, 07 January 2012 08:30
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
It looks to be a good day's jump racing again today with action from Sandown, Newcastle and Wincanton. We have one runner at Sandown (I'm So Lucky ridden by Conor O'Farrell) and three at Wincanton (Consigliere, Star Of Angels and The Pier). It is good to see I'm So Lucky back after a break of nearly 300 days - he was last seen showing up well for a long way in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last March and has his first start over hurdles since May 2008. The Pier makes his debut for the stable having won on the flat and over hurdles back in Ireland and he starts in the handicap hurdle although the official assessor appears to have taken few chances with a rating of 122.
- Friday, 06 January 2012 08:19
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
On very testing ground at Lingfield yesterday, I thought that our conditional jockey Conor O'Farrell gave Ashbrittle a very good ride to win the maiden hurdle. In a driving finish he took the measure of Charm School by a length with a further 21 lengths back to the third. Even though aside from the main protagonists it probably wasn't the strongest of races I think the form will prove to be okay - remember Charm School was a November Handicap winner on the flat so is clearly no mug. Add to that, Ashbrittle was a thorough stayer on the flat and will probably benefit from a longer trip over hurdles in time and he looks sure to win further races. That is true also of the runner-up, who looks to be a good thing if turned out again on similar ground next time.
- Thursday, 05 January 2012 07:58
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
I am pleased to see that Lingfield passed a precautionary inspection this morning ahead of this afternoon's card. I don't know if they have been enduring the same battering by the wind that we have in the west country, but they have certainly had the share of the rain with the course currently riding heavy. We have two runners in the maiden hurdle - Ashbrittle and Home Run. I thought that decent ex-flat stayer Ashbrittle put up a promising first effort over timber when finishing second on similar going at Ffos Las last time. He seemed to handle conditions okay that day and with that experience under his belt, a race of this nature should be within his compass.
- Wednesday, 04 January 2012 09:17
- Written by Chelsea Eggleton
The stable has two well-fancied runners at Southwell this afternoon - Battle Group and Mr Chow. Battle Group was a very good hurdler, who won a Listed race at Aintree on Grand National day - he showed a good level of form when runner-up behind a useful type on his chasing debut at Wetherby, before blotting his copybook by unseating at the first at Towcester last time. Conor O'Farrell takes over on board this afternoon.
