Horses for Sale

   Tuxedo Junction (GB) 


Exciting dual purpose prospect,
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    Fighter Allen (FR)  


Exciting new horse with proven form, 
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                      Skipping Tim

Today’s horse, Skipping Tim, may not have been one of the more household names to have been at Pond House but he was one of the winning most so gets a deserved mention.  A 1979 born bay gelding by Deep Run his dam was called Skiporetta.  He began his career with two hurdle runs in Ireland for P Moakley, where he finished third at Mallow on his debut in March 1986 and then sixth at Clonmel the following month.

Skipping Tim then moved to England to P J Hobbs but was not seen on the racecourse again until January 1989.  He had eleven runs for the Sandhill stables over hurdles and fences and while he finished third on four occasions he gained his first ever victory on his elevenths start in a selling chase at Newton Abbot on 7th July 1989.  MCP's father Dave, bought him in the auction afterwards for 5,500 guineas.

He finished second on his first start for Pond House in a chase at Exeter the following month.  He then went on a winning run of four straight victories at Newton Abbot, Hereford, Devon and Exeter and Cheltenham with Peter Scudamore riding each time.  An interesting personal point is that in his victory at Exeter he beat a horse called Aren’t We All by four lengths – that was a horse trained by my parents and we still have the race video at home!  He had three more runs that season finishing second and Windsor, falling at Uttoxeter and was third at Haydock in December 1989.

After a break he next returned to action in September 1990.  It was a winning return at Newton Abbot and he followed up at Worcester just eight days later.  He fell at Cheltenham after this but then went on another winning streak of six races in a row.  He won chases at Cheltenham, Wolverhampton, Warwick, Haydock, Haydock and Wincanton.  They were not big field events but it was still a fantastic effort by anyone’s standards.  He had six more runs that season and while he did not win again, it included running in the Flete Challenge handicap chase at the 1991 Cheltenham Festival. While not quite up to this level he finished a respectable tenth place with Jonothan Lower on board.  He finished third and second on his final two starts of that season.

After another break he was next back on a racecourse in May 1992.  He proceeded to rack up another five wins in a row on his return.  His first win came at Fontwell and he followed up at Warwick and Fakenham making it three wins in the month of May.  Two win at Newton Abbot in August also followed.  I think it is also important to highlight that he was 13 years of age by this time so it is quite some feat.  He ran a further sixteen times that season and the results from those runs were six wins, three second places, a third, a fourth, a fifth, a last placing and an unseat.  Wonderful stats for that season.

Now 14 years of age he started the new season like many of his previous – with a win!  He won at Newton Abbot in July 1993 with Richard Dunwoody on board.  He then was second twice before returning to winning ways at Stratford and then Market Rasen in September of that year.  He had two more runs that season and his final run under rules was at Exeter in May 1994 where he was well beaten.

That was not quite his career over though!  He had two more starts in the point to point field in 1995.  David actually finished third on him at Ottery St Mary in February before his final run was a winning one in the Taunton Vale Harriers members race in April and he won unchallenged with Shirley Vickery in the saddle.

It seems quite appropriate he finished his career with a win as that is what he had been prolific at for so many years.  He won 26 races for MCP from 52 starts, so a hugely impressive 50% strike rate.  Don’t forget MCP bought him as a ten year old and all those victories came as 10 year old plus!!! With one win for Philip Hobbs and a win in a point to point that brings his career total to 28 wins.  For his Pond House victories, Peter Scudamore was on board for 15 of those wins, Richard Dunwoody 6, Jonothan Lower 2 and Florent Monnier 2.  He was a winner at Cheltenham three times and he was also placed another 12 times from runs at Pond House so a remarkable record all round.  While I said he was not one of the top horses we have had a Pond House he was actually rated 141 at best so that is pretty good by anyone’s standards!  He won just over £92,000 in prize money.

While he may not have won too many ‘fancy races’ it seems like you could not have found a more tough, consistent and genuine horse to have done what he did in what you would classify as his ‘elder’ years.  He obviously enjoyed his racing and that winning feeling!  He was a star for Pond House and I am not sure you would get many horses these days capable of doing what he achieved.