Skip to Content

Category Archives: Latest News

By

in

Latest News

Impossible to make firm plans

The cold snap put an end to our hopes at Cheltenham and Hereford on Saturday and unfortunately the outlook for racing this week is far from encouraging.

It was a big blow to lose the Cheltenham card where we were hoping for a big day with perfect ground and ideal races for our team of horses.
It is not known yet if any of the feature races at Cheltenham will be re-arranged. But if the International Hurdle is lost I doubt that the horses who missed out will be queuing up to take on Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
With meetings off left, right and centre it is impossible to make any firm plans in the days ahead. But if temperatures do improve by the weekend then we will be sending a strong team to Ascot on Friday and Saturday.
Last week Rubaud won nicely for the second time this season at Taunton on Thursday. He is an exciting prospect for the future and jumps so well I can’t wait to see him over fences next season.
Rubaud is in the Grade 2 Kennel Gate Novice Hurdle at Ascot on Friday along with Lallygag but with serious concerns about the meeting taking place he is more likely to run at Kempton on Boxing Day.
On Friday Le Chiffre d’Or took our score for the season to 82 with an easy success on his debut over fences at Doncaster. On his first start since a breathing operation he won with his head in his chest.
With our horses remaining in sparkling form with a strike rate of 33% the current disruption to racing is seriously frustrating for team Ditcheat. Here’s hoping the thaw starts sooner rather than later.

READ MORE

By

in

Latest News

Policy pays dividends

Pic D’Orhy delivered our 80th winner of the season with a fluent success on Sunday in Huntingdon’s showpiece race of the year the Peterborough Chase.

He is among my favourites, a proper horse now, on decent ground, and made all the running at a good tempo before keeping on willingly to see off the late challenge of Millers Bank. There are more races to be won with Pic D’Orhy who is still improving and runs next in the Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton towards the end of January.
I’m thrilled that our horses remain in fantastic form with nine winners over the last three days maintaining our strike rate at 33%. They look amazing and continue to run out of their skins.
I’m pleased to say that our policy of buying young horses and bringing them on steadily continues to pay dividends.
Meatloaf, Inthewaterside and Marvellous Mick all won their bumpers last week on their debuts and we have plenty more like them to run in the next few months. They are all going to make cracking hurdlers next season.
On Friday Gelino Bello maintained his unbeaten record over fences at Exeter while Henri The Second looked a serious prospect in winning the Grade 2 Ballymore Winter Novice Hurdle at Sandown in great style.
He has so much raw ability, is still learning and will make an awesome chaser in time. More immediately he might head for the Grade 2 Leamington Novice Hurdle at Warwick in January.
On Saturday Greaneteen just came up short in his bid to land the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase for the second year running. I’ve seen him jump a little better but there was no disgrace in finishing second to Edwardstone who looked outstanding in the paddock, was a top novice and is clearly the new kid on the block.
Greaneteen has had two hard races this season and as he is at his best when fresh he will have a little break now before running in the Champion Chase and then returning to Sandown on the final day of the season.
I’m not saying he is going to win at Cheltenham but he has run tidily in the race before and could well finish in the first three.
Lorcan Williams deserves a pat on the back for his treble for Team Ditcheat at Chepstow on Saturday while Dixon Cove doubled her score for the season with a ready success in the juvenile hurdle at Aintree.
We will be busy again in the second half of this week with runners at Warwick and Taunton on Thursday and Switch Hitter is a possible at Cheltenham on Friday.
A day later Monmiral is also entered at Cheltenham but would need plenty of cut in the ground. In addition Outlaw Peter goes for the three mile Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle, Il Ridoto and Simply The Betts are on course for the Racing Post Gold Cup and Knappers Hill will take his chance in the International Hurdle.
For all the up to the minute news on my runners on Friday and Saturday please be sure to check out my Betfair column which goes live the previous afternoon.

READ MORE

By

in

Latest News

Weekend treble

Three winners at Newbury over the weekend took our score to seventy for the season from two hundred and fifteen runners.

With a strike rate of 33% things could hardly be going better and it would be nice to reach a century by the end of December. It’s a tough ask but we will be giving it a go.
Stay Away Fay was the first to strike at Newbury on Friday on his debut for us in a competitive Class 3 novice hurdle.
While he hadn’t shown much at home since arriving at Ditcheat he won his only Point-to-Point in Ireland, cost plenty at the sales and is clearly another exciting recruit for Chris Giles. He jumped well, was very strong at the finish and will have learned plenty from the experience. It was certainly encouraging to hear Harry Skelton, rider of the runner-up, say he thought the race was the best novice hurdle he’d ridden in all season.
On the same day it was disappointing to see Stage Star tending to hang left the whole way round when finishing second to Sebastopol. There is something troubling him a bit and we need to find out what it is.
McFabulous then gave us a tremendous start to Saturday with a highly impressive victory from the front in the John Francome Novice Chase. With the ground too quick for Gelino Bello I was pleased to have made an entry for McFabulous who jumped for fun and looked like he loved chasing .
Harry Cobden said that was the best feel he’d had from the winner who is starting to make up for lost time after his chasing career was put on hold for twelve months by a couple of niggly issues last autumn. In hindsight that delay was probably the best thing that has ever happened to McFabulous who heads next to the Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton over Christmas.
Red Risk, a 20-1 shot, completed our double at Newbury with a fluent success in the two and a half mile handicap handicap hurdle which was a bit of a surprise because I thought he was too high in the handicap. Being fresh and well was the key to his triumph so I am not in a hurry to turn him out quickly under a penalty. One option is the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton in January.
Grivetana did well to finish second to First Street in the Gerry Fielden but our hopes in the Coral Gold Cup were over at the first fence where Threeunderthrufive parted company with Adrian Heskin.
Both were fine afterwards although Threeundertheufive showed his well being by harassing the leaders for much of the race before almost taking them out on the run-in.
Bryony Frost’s trip to Bangor on Saturday ended painfully with a broken collar bone when Sir Psycho fell heavily at the fifth fence. She was discharged from hospital that evening and hopes to be back in the saddle on Boxing Day.
Team Ditcheat’s week had begun on a bright note with the decisive success of Miranda in a valuable mares’ hurdle at Kempton. She will have an entry in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in case the ground goes heavy. On Wednesday it was the turn of Beau Balko and Ioupy Collonges and on Thursday Irish Hill shone with a determined win at Taunton.
We have a number of interesting entries for the coming weekend with Henri The Second an intended runner in the Grade 2 Ballymore Novice Hurdle at Sandown on Friday and Gelino Bello heading to Exeter for a three mile novice chase the same day.
On Saturday Greaneteen will be defending his crown in the Tingle Creek at Sandown but with a dry forecast in the coming days Monmiral will probably miss his re-match in the Henry V111 Chase with Jonbon who beat him recently at Warwick. There is a race for him over two and a half miles at Ascot a fortnight later.
We are also likely to be sending horses to Chepstow and Aintree on Saturday. So for the latest news on all our runners that day please be sure to check out my Betfair column which goes live dearly on Friday afternoon.

READ MORE
«←1516171819→ »