Double Delight For New Year

What a great way to kick off the New Year at Exeter yesterday with the Pond House team securing a double courtesy of Extra Mag and New Age Dawning.  Extra Mag stayed on nicely to win the novices' hurdle and I am sure he would have won more comfortably without a mistake at the final flight.  Indeed, he is very unlucky not to be unbeaten in two starts having unseated Tom Scudamore at the last flight when in command of a hot contest at Wetherby on his debut.  He is clearly a very smart prospect, will get further and can only improve with experience.  Glen Vine, a son of Gaspara finished a creditable fourth in the maiden hurdle on his debut over timber, whilst New Age Dawning ran out a gutsy winner of the bumper, making all without Tom Scu ever having to get too serious aboard our five year old.  He looks like a lovely chasing type for the future.  An excellent start to 2019...let's hope that it continues!

It was a good start to the year for young David Noonan too.  He headed all the way to Musselburgh for two rides and returned having ridden a double!  I always take note of jockeys or trainers that travel long distances for relatively few opportunities...I just wish I would take my own advice from time to time!  Pictured below you will see David, Tom Scudamore, Gordon Elliott and David Noonan celebrating their successes - that's ten between them!

I was watching the action from Cheltenham yesterday and I thought that Midnight Shadow from the Sue Smith yard looked impressive when beating Wholestone.  Connections say that he will run in the Stayers' Hurdle at the Festival in March.

There are four meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Ayr and Hereford as well as all-weather flat cards from Wolverhampton and Newcastle.  It looks like a quiet day for the yard and also our jockeys.

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The weather certainly seems to have taken a turn for the colder and there are widespread frosts expected over the coming few days.  Speaking of which, it is exactly ten years to the day that we were experiencing a real dip in temperatures at Pond House.  David was up all night rolling the gallops so the horses would be able to keep exercising, whilst the Pond was totally frozen over.  Indeed, the ice was so thick that Mike, our tractor driver could stand on it!  

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Newcastle take on Manchester United tonight and this surely has to be another win for United at 8/13.  Wolves are playing well and should beat Crystal Palace at 21/20, while I will be backing my beloved West Ham at 19/20 to beat Brighton.  Meanwhile, Spurs and Arsenal both looked good yesterday with each recording easy wins.

I should have been a darts player!  Michael Van Gerwen won his third world championship and picked up a winners' prize of £500,000.  He slaughtered Michael Smith 7-3 in the final.  Smith only picked up £200,000 for finishing runner-up!  I won a dart board for winning one of my English championships...perhaps that should have been the start of my darts career?!

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Thought for the day...If humans stood in single file all the way around the Equator, most of them would drown!  Keep smiling...

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