dellarca_cheltenham

Excuse me paraphrasing an old Dinah Washington classic song, but rarely has a truer word been spoken than ‘What a diff'rence a day made, twenty-four little hours’.  Following a couple of what can only be described as disappointing days at Cheltenham’s Open Meeting, you can imagine the sense of relief when Home Run landed the first race of the final day, so to actually finish up as top trainer at the meeting with four winners almost beggars belief!

Read more...

Doctor_Harper_Exeter

What an amazing few weeks it promises to be for racing -  not only has there been the small matter of Tony McCoy riding his 4,000th winner, the standard of racing is getting better with each passing week and this weekend it steps up another notch with Cheltenham’s Open Fixture.  The stable has a rich history of success at this meeting throughout the years and I was fortunate enough to supplement my father’s eight wins by landing the Paddy Power Gold Cup with Great Endeavour in 2011.  We have a strong team assembled to try to continue that tradition this year.

Read more...

Pleasant_Company_Ascot_web
With the season getting into full swing now, I am pleased to report that the stable remains in good form.  Indeed, four winners over the course of the last week means that our seasonal tally now stands at 29 – a favourable comparison to this time last year.   Furthermore, the victories came from some of the promising youngsters that I had been so hopeful of at the beginning of the season and bodes very well for the remainder of the campaign.

Read more...

Standing_Ovation_Wincanton_271013

Despite the heavy downpours, we were able to finish the week on a high with a couple of nice winners in the staying handicap chases on Sunday at Wincanton.  Standing Ovation continued his recent run of good form by taking the Desert Orchid Handicap Chase over the marathon trip of 3m3½f, while Franklin Roosevelt returned from his summer break to record a personal best in landing the 3m1½f handicap chase later on the same card.

Read more...

Kings_Palace_Chelt_1_0_00_51-02

With the jumps season beginning to get serious I am pleased to report that the horses are in good form - a sentiment that is backed up by a couple of nice winners during the course of the week.  Indeed, Standing Ovation followed-up his Exeter success with a ready victory at Wincanton’s first meeting of the season under another well-judged ride from Conor O’Farrell.

Read more...

david_pipe_portrait_web
We were back among the winners last week when Standing Ovation scored a thrilling success under an excellent ride by Conor O’Farrell in the staying handicap chase at Exeter on Thursday.  It really was a triumph for perseverance as Standing Ovation looked to be the first one beaten after a slow jump going out onto the final circuit but Conor never gave up and getting some prodigious leaps out of his partner in the straight, he got up to score by a hard fought neck.   Basil Fawlty also ran well to finish fourth in the same race.  He was one of four in line at the last – a mistake there cost him dearly, although it showed that he can remain competitive in races of this nature granted a clear round.

Read more...

Eddie_Buckley.jpg

Although we had no runners until the end of the week, it has nonetheless been a productive few days for the yard with the successes of Kings Palace at Fontwell on Friday and My Brother Sylvest at Huntingdon on Sunday taking our seasonal tally to twenty winners.

Read more...