- Monday, 08 July 2013 08:35
- Written by David Pipe
We were greatly saddened to hear of the passing of David Johnson at the weekend after losing his valiant battle with cancer at the age of 67. Not only was David a great owner to have in the yard, he was also a loyal friend and confidant. A self-made, grounded man, David never forgot his roots and always had time for others and was never arrogant or conceited – there were no airs or graces with him and he could communicate with anyone (even Chester, who was a fellow ‘Hammers’ supporter). A great supporter of our sport of horse racing, the entire industry will be poorer for his loss.
- Tuesday, 02 July 2013 11:58
- Written by David Pipe
While the summer is traditionally our quiet time of the year, there is still plenty of work to be done behind the scenes. Although the majority of the horses are out on their holidays, we have just started to bring in a few of the horses you will be watching over the winter and the yard will start to fill up again from this point on. Nevertheless, the break has provided a good opportunity to conduct some house-keeping and maintenance work around the yard.
- Tuesday, 25 June 2013 09:22
- Written by David Pipe
What a week we enjoyed at Royal Ascot, there were so many memorable moments and fantastic races that I was just glad to be a part of it all on Tuesday. Investissement ran okay in the Ascot Stakes but appeared not to stay the 2m4f while in the Queen Alexandra stakes Ryan Moore said they went off so fast that Junior did not get to the front and was never really going. He has been on the go a long time and he will now go off on his summer holidays.
- Monday, 17 June 2013 15:43
- Written by David Pipe
Last week was a quiet one with only nine runners from the stable, but Basil Fawlty kept the scoreboard ticking over with success at Worcester on Tuesday in the 2m7f handicap chase. Our ninth winner of the new campaign was atoning for an unlucky fall at Exeter on his previous start when appearing to be travelling like a winner. He made no mistake on this occasion and jumping well he stayed on dourly to deny My Mate Vinnie in a driving finish. This was only his fourth start over fences so I am sure there is further improvement in him and while he may have his limitations, there is no reason to think that he cannot pick up something similar during the course of the summer.
- Monday, 10 June 2013 15:49
- Written by David Pipe
I was pleased to keep up our recent run of excellent weekend form with an across the card double at Perth and Nottingham on Sunday. Problema Tic made the 900+ mile round trip to the Scottish track worthwhile as he returned to form to run out the ready winner of the ultra competitive Perth Gold Cup under Tom Scudamore.
We had previously won the race in 2006 with Tamarinbleu who went on to enjoy Grade One success over fences; so hopefully this is a good omen for the future!
- Monday, 03 June 2013 15:46
- Written by David Pipe
It’s been an eventful few days with a weekend away in Majorca and while I had a great time, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to be back on British soil - I don’t think my liver could have taken much more! I flew out to the Spanish Isle in the early hours of Saturday morning with my partner Leanne for the wedding of Welsh rugby international Andy Powell (a part-owner in promising hurdler Broadway Buffalo) to his lovely bride Natasha and by Saturday night I was partying with some fairly big flankers in Magaluf – it was an eye opening experience I don’t mind telling you! I told them that I was not a Premiership player and I was clearly out of my league, hence I was tucked up in my bed long before they were! The wedding ceremony was a much calmer affair and I would like to wish the newly-weds every happiness for the future.
- Monday, 27 May 2013 12:11
- Written by David Pipe
Following a few near misses I was pleased to sign off the week with a couple of winners. Waterunder and Massannie provided some welcome success and took our tally for the new season onto five. The race that Waterunder won was something of a charade considering that for this two mile handicap hurdle the competitors had only to jump three hurdles due to the setting sun, indeed it was more like a bumper and Tom Scudamore produced an excellent ride to get our charge home in front. Don’t get me wrong… I am delighted to have won the race, but as far as I can remember the sun has always been where it is and I don’t recall horse or jockey going around the obstacles 20 years ago!
