Passing Of Chester Barnes

It is with a heavy heart that we report the passing of Chester Barnes who died on Thursday night from a heart attack.  Chester had been an integral part of the team at Pond House for many years, first as assistant to MCP, helping to saddle up the horses at the races, travelling with Martin up and down the country and helping to plot countless winners, whilst until recently he was the daily blogger for David on his website.  He would also be seen in our Cheltenham Festival marquee every year, mingling happily with our owners and members of our racing club, telling some his amazing tales and handing out his fancies for the day ahead.  He had an infectious character, was always full of joy and never short of a terrible joke or two.

Chester always had time to speak to anyone and would effortlessly lighten the atmosphere around him.  He was a lovely man who will be greatly missed by everyone at Pond House and our deepest sympathies are with his wife Jane and children, Lester and Joanne.

Back to the horses and although we drew a blank on the final day of the Festival (like almost all of the British trainers), the horses once again ran very well.  Adagio covered himself in glory in finishing runner-up in the Triumph Hurdle behind Quilixios, showing himself once again to be the best juvenile hurdler on this side of the Irish Sea.  Considering he had suffered from a colic scare in the weeks leading up to the Festival, it was hardly an ideal preparation and this was a top class effort.  A tremendous buy from a claimer on the flat in France, he has given his owners a thrilling first season with the prospect of further to come.

Leoncavallo ran a tremendous race to finish sixth in the Martin Pipe conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle, not quite getting up that famous Cheltenham hill.  First Lord de Cuet was there for a long way before weakening, whilst Martinhal was too free early and did not run his race.

There are five meetings taking place this afternoon with jumps cards from Uttoxeter, Fontwell, Kempton and Newcastle, whilst there is an all-weather flat fixture from Wolverhampton.  There is a busy day ahead with five runners across the three jumps meetings; Ramses de Teillee and Barrier Peaks at Uttoxeter, What A Moment at Kempton and Fort Summer and Ballywilliam at Fontwell.

Our first runner is Fort Summer who contests the 2m1½f maiden hurdle at Fontwell at 12.30pm.  He has shown ability in Irish point-to-points and bumpers, but he is going to be a big price here and would need to improve on what he has shown so far to figure under Kieron Edgar.

Ballywilliam runs in the 3.20pm race at Fontwell, a 3m2f handicap hurdle.  He was a winner over this sort of trip over hurdles from a higher mark during his younger days, but he is an eleven year old now and this is his first start under rules for 1451 days.  Kieron Edgar is in the saddle.

Ramses de Teillee contests the Midlands National at Uttoxeter at 3.35pm.  A high class stayer, he produced a good performance when beating Yala Enki at Cheltenham in November and following a couple of sub-par efforts, he was much better when fourth in the Grand National Trial at Haydock last time.  He is a quality individual who stays well, but he does have a lot of weight.  Even so, he could go well at a decent price under David Noonan.

Our other runner at Uttoxeter is Barrier Peaks who contests the concluding bumper at 5.50pm.  He produced a decent first effort when runner-up in a Chepstow bumper on his racecourse debut and is entitled to improve with that experience under his belt.  There are plenty of potential dangers in the line-up but he looks to have a good chance under Tom Scudamore.

What A Moment is our only runner at Kempton and he goes in the 3m handicap chase at 4.25pm.  He did everything but win at Plumpton last time, kicking clear on the home turn before idling badly and then rallying on the run-in to go down in a photo finish.  Even so, that was a good effort and he looks to have decent claims once again from a 2lbs higher mark in a tight little race.  Fergus Gillard is in the saddle again and claims 5lbs off his back.

*****

I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to finish with a joke today, but in the finest tradition of Chester, I have a real shocker for you (and it's about golf too, so I think he would have liked it).

A young man went for a round of golf with a girl that he liked from work.  Beforehand, he slipped into the professional's shop and bought a couple of golf balls which he put in his pocket.  When he met the girl on the first tee, she couldn't help noticing the bulge in his trousers.
"It's only golf balls," he explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied.  "Is it something like tennis elbow?"