Paddy Power Day!

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Cheltenham, Uttoxeter and Wetherby, whilst there are two all-weather flat cards from Lingfield and Wolverhampton.  It is a busy day for the yard with five runners at Cheltenham, one at Uttoxeter and one on the level at Wolverhampton.  Today is the second day of Cheltenham November meeting with the feature race, the Paddy Power Gold Cup at 2.15pm and that looks like a good place to start.  The Pond House team are represented by Siruh du Lac (pictured above) who makes his seasonal/stable debut this afternoon.  A former Cheltenham Festival winner over this trip, he is obviously a very good horse.  He has pleased at home and has a 5lbs pull with Simply The Betts on Festival form in March (Siruh du Lac was still in front when coming to grief at the penultimate fence).  Tom Scu rides and he looks to have solid claims.

 We start the day in the 12.30pm race, where Adagio contests the Triumph Hurdle Trial over two miles.  We picked him up after winning easily on the level in France and confirmed the promise of that performance with an easy debut success over timber at Warwick.  The ground should suit and he looks a promising type.  With eight runners, he looks to hold each-way claims under Tom Scudamore.

What A Moment contests the amateur riders' and conditional jockeys' race at 1.05pm - a race that he won in 2016 and 2017.  He has been beset by problems throughout but has plenty of ability and is now 12lbs lower than when successful in 2017.  He has obvious claims from a handicapping perspective and did not shape badly on his reappearance.  Martin McIntyre is in the saddle and takes 7lbs off his back.

Dell' Arca is a non-runner in the 3m handicap hurdle at 2.50pm but are still represented by Poker Play.  A good winner at Ffos Las on his seasonal reappearance, he obviously goes well fresh, although he is still 9lbs above his last winning mark so he will need to improve.  His chance will be aided by any rain.  Tom Scu rides.

Kepagge runs in the intermediate hurdle at 3.25.  Unbeaten in three starts for the stable, he put up a good performance when successful at Doncaster.  This is obviously tougher and he has topweight to contend with on his handicap debut but he looks a very good prospect and should go well with Tom Scudamore in the saddle.

Astigar is our sole runner in the 3.50pm race at Uttoxeter, the concluding bumper.  There isn't much form to go on, but this could well be a decent contest.  Astigar goes nicely at home and looks to have a decent chance under David Noonan.

Our final runner is Lady Reset who contests the 1m4f flat handicap at Wolverhampton at 4.30pm.  A winner twice on the level last season, she is only 1lb higher than her last winning mark.  She was only narrowly beaten on her penultimate start over hurdles and could run well at a decent price with Adam Kirby in the saddle.

It's a tough day but we have some good chances...let's hope for a winner or two!

Induno fared best of our runners on day one, finishing a close fourth in the conditional jockeys' race.  He ran well but perhaps found the trip of 2m5f just a little beyond him at this stage.  Eamon An Cnoic's jumping lacked fluency in the 2m chase, whilst Panic Attack disappointed in the novices' handicap hurdle.

*****

The Turkish Grand Prix takes place this weekend with qualifying this afternoon.  The Mercedes looked to be struggling for grip in practice so let's hope that is a good omen for the race.  The silver arrows have been awesome this season but when they struggle it certainly makes for more entertaining racing.

*****

My friend said: “You have a BA, a Masters and a PhD, but you still act like an idiot…”
It was a third degree burn!

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