- Monday, 17 June 2019 15:13
- Written by David Pipe
The weather has certainly taken a turn for the worse. Much as a spot of rain is appreciated to keep the ground safe for the horses, we have had almost 100mm of rain during the course of last week – that is more than the total for April and May combined! Consequently many of the jumps fixtures were abandoned due to waterlogging, leaving us with just the one runner over the sticks last week.
- Monday, 10 June 2019 15:28
- Written by David Pipe
Last week was another good one for the stable with the horses remaining in fine form. We enjoyed a rare and dramatic success on the flat (which brought back some advertising memories from the 80’s!), whilst all of our runners over the sticks performed with credit. It is looking a little quieter this week with just a handful of entries through the early part of the week although we are well represented at Worcester on Saturday.
- Monday, 03 June 2019 15:54
- Written by David Pipe
Although the disjointed nature of the summer jumps programme means that there are fewer opportunities for the horses, the string continues to perform well and I was delighted to hit the mark with Max do Brazil (pictured above) who was scoring a timely first success for the stable at Fakenham on Sunday. With the purchase of a couple more horses from the Tattersalls Ireland sales at Cheltenham, it has to be considered another productive week.
- Monday, 27 May 2019 09:01
- Written by David Pipe
Story of Friends Winner at Warwick
Teaser gave the yard a great start to the week when winning at Ludlow last Monday an like I said last week the horses continue in great form it was just a little frustrating to have several more placings and not winners! However Story of Friends was also a nice winner at Warwick on Wednesday on his hurdling debut. He really enjoys the good ground, jumped nicely and won quite cosily in the end. We will keep him on the go for now and monitor the weather. If we were to get some rain and the ground be suitable then he might run again but failing that he will have a little summer holiday. He is a lovely young horse who has won a bumper and hurdle race already this season. He continues to improve and there should be plenty more to come.
- Monday, 20 May 2019 16:09
- Written by David Pipe
The horses continue to run with great credit and whilst we didn’t get into the winners’ enclosure last week, five of our nine runners over the sticks reached the frame. We have had a better start to this week however, with Teaser already successful for the team at Ludlow. With fewer meetings planned for the week ahead and a dry weather forecast for the next few days at the very least it is likely to be relatively quiet week in terms of runners. However, with the Doncaster Sales taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday there is plenty to keep the team occupied.
- Monday, 13 May 2019 14:24
- Written by David Pipe
Last week was certainly one to remember for the Pond House team with winners coming left, right and centre (back-to-back doubles book-ended by victories at Exeter and Market Rasen). With 6 winners from just 14 runners and some places to boot, I couldn’t be more pleased with our start to the new campaign. In truth, the horses have been running well for some considerable time now although we have been flying under the radar somewhat. The resetting of the tally’s with the start of the new season just serves to bring it more to people’s attention.
- Monday, 06 May 2019 11:30
- Written by David Pipe
It is hard to believe that the 2019/2020 jumps season is already upon us, but as has been the case for many years now, one season follows hot on the heels of the other. With a couple of runners today and tomorrow and plenty of entries for the remainder of the week it looks like being a busy start to the campaign. Indeed, I am off to Kempton this afternoon where we run Malangen.
- Monday, 29 April 2019 15:33
- Written by David Pipe
The weekend saw the closing of the 2018/19 season with a fantastic meeting from Sandown. Looking back, on the whole I am pleased with how things panned out for the Pond House team last term. Despite fewer horses we produced significantly more winners than the previous campaign, whilst increasing prize money by almost £100,000 and improving our percentage strike rate. It is now a case of starting again and bettering those totals this coming season. There is lots of work to do at the sales and around the yard this summer as we endeavour to do just that. I would like to thank my team of hard working staff for their continued efforts and my loyal owners for their trust and support.
- Monday, 22 April 2019 09:43
- Written by David Pipe
Malangen - 3 Wins in a Row
In my children’s school they give a star of the week award to a child in the class who has done well during the week. The star of the week at Pond House this week has to be Malangen who was as once again star on the race track and won for the second consecutive Saturday. He put up a really determined performance to bring up his hat-trick of wins. He looked in a little bit of trouble leaving the back straight but he may have found the trip on the sharp side round this track and all he did was keep responding to Tom Scudamore’s urgings and won a shade cosily in the end. The handicapper is sure to have his say tomorrow but our four year old is in good heart at the moment and hopefully there is more to come. He prefers the quicker ground and will be kept on the go this summer. He has the option of going back on the flat at some point while we will also consider sending him chasing in July as he really loves his jumping and four year olds get a nice allowance at this time of year.
- Monday, 15 April 2019 15:28
- Written by David Pipe
With less than two weeks of the current campaign remaining I was pleased to add a couple more winners to our seasonal tally. The successes of Legal History and Malangen last week took our total to forty and with a few meetings this week and plenty of fixtures next week, there are still plenty of opportunities to add to that score. Of course, the entire team remains hungry for far more success, but on the back last season, this term has been all about rebuilding; improving on our total winners, prize money and percentage strike rate…something that we have already comprehensively achieved.
