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Category Archives: Latest News

Monday 18th March

We ended an eventful week with a double on Saturday which took our score for the season to 109

Seriously testing conditions at Cheltenham after heavy rain didn’t play to our strengths but Monmiral excelled in winning the Pertemps Final. He has always had loads of ability but didn’t take to chasing and needed the run at Chepstow when he qualified for the Pertemps by finishing fourth. I thought he had a sporting chance of finishing in the money but didn’t really expect him to win like he did. He will head to Aintree next.
Ginny’s Destiny ran a blinder in finishing a close second to Grey Dawning in the Turners and should stay three miles in time. He is another pencilled in for our Aintree team.
Bravemansgame hated the ground at Cheltenham. I withdrew him there two years ago in similar conditions and it was clear from an early stage in the Gold Cup on Friday that he wasn’t handling the ground. He could also go to Aintree if the ground is suitable or I could keep him for the Oaksey Chase at Sandown on the final day of the season.
Stay Away Fay pulled off a shoe in the Brown Advisory Chase and I suspect he didn’t like the track in that ground. He scoped dirty later that day but that might well have been because he’d been galloping around Cheltenham in the mud. Forty eight hours later his trachea wash was 100%. I will be giving him an entry in the Scottish Grand National. Next season I’ll be aiming Stay Away Fay at something like the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury rather than thinking that he is a Gold Cup horse. He just lacks a gear and could develop into a National horse.
We have lots to run before the end of the season and drier ground would definitely help as you saw at Kempton on Saturday. Horses like Outlaw Peter and Irish Hill have been struggling on bad ground all winter and obviously appreciated the better conditions there.
We don’t have too many to run this week because I’m prepared to wait until the ground starts to dry up. But Larchmont Lass deserves a shot at the mares’ final at Newbury on Saturday where Regent’s Stroll goes in the £100,000 Goffs Bumper.
After Saturday’s Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter and after chatting with Gordon and Su Hall it has been decided to retire Trucker’s Lodge. He has been fantastic horse, he won the race in 2020 and ran in it 5 times. He will have a great retirement and deserves it.
Interest in the trainer’s championship has sparked into life now that my former assistant Dan Skelton tops the table. If he beats me I’ll be proud of him and the first to shake his hand. Dan is competitive like me, he will not give up until the final day and neither will I, so it should be fun.
Please be sure to check out my Betfair column for my Saturday runners which goes live the previous day.

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Monday 4th March

It was brilliant to reach a century of winners for the season for the 23rd time with the success of Kruger Park at Newbury on Friday.

It’s always nice to reach that landmark figure before the Cheltenham Festival and I’m sure we would have done it a fair bit sooner but for so many race meetings being cancelled because of the relentlessly wet winter. Our horses remain in good form with a strike rate of 25% and they have already earned £2.2 million for their owners. Things are going well just at the right time for Team Ditcheat with the added bonus that Harry Cobden now holds a useful lead in the jockeys’ championship.
On Saturday the mud loving Makin’yourmindup took our score to 101 with a fluent victory at Newbury. He shapes like he will gallop all day and could be an interesting one for the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow next Christmas.
Kandoo Kid also ran very well in finishing a close second to Heltenham in the Greatwood Gold Cup. He is progressing nicely, will be even better on drier ground and we will try to find another nice race for him in the spring. Incidentally Heltenham paid a decent compliment to Golden Son who gave him 5lbs and a beating at Kempton last time.
The latest weather forecast hinted at less rain this week ahead of Sandown’s big meeting on Saturday where Fire Flyer and Emailandy are on course for the EBF Final and then it’s on to Cheltenham.
For all the latest news on my Saturday runners please check out my Betfair column which goes live the previous morning.

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Monday 26th February

An excellent double at Kempton on Saturday advertised the good form of our team as we enter the final two months of the season.

Kalif du Berlais was the first to strike with a determined success in the Grade 2 Adonis Hurdle. He’s a horse with a big future and maintained his unbeaten record by defying a 5lbs penalty with a determined finishing run as he saw off Givemefive in a tight finish. He had a hard enough race and will not be going to Cheltenham for the Triumph Hurdle. If he does run again this season it will be in the juvenile hurdle at Aintree though I wouldn’t lose any sleep if we decided to put him away for next season. He stays strong and is a galloper so Kempton doesn’t really play to his strengths. We need to mind him for next season when he will probably have one run over hurdles before switching to fences. He is certainly one off the nicest prospects we have had to go chasing for a long time.
Golden Son had some questions to answer after failing to finish on his last two starts. But to be fair the ground was virtually unraceable at Liverpool on the first occasion and then Harry Cobden pulled him up at Newbury because he thought he had knocked himself. But afterwards he was fine. So it was good to see him bounce back in first time cheek pieces with a welcome success in a Class 2 handicap Chase over two and a half miles. Hopefully he can continue to progress while conditions are in his favour and he could return to Kempton in three week’s time.
The Grade 2 Pendil Novice Chase is a race I love to target and it looked for a moment that Tahmuras would give me a fourteenth success in it until he was just outfought by Blow Your Wad on the run-in. While he isn’t entirely straightforward he is going to win a decent prize one day when he gets the strong pace that he needs to bring out the best in him. He could be one for the Paddy Power at Cheltenham next season.
Testing conditions at racecourses around the country are far from ideal for quite a few of ours who would prefer much drier ground. Meanwhile we continue to be busy at home schooling horses in our outdoor arena. Bravemansgame looked in top condition when Harry Cobden popped him over some fences in the midweek and our recent recruit Caldwell Potter was another to please Harry. He has settled in very well at his new home, enjoys his work and could make his debut for us in the Grade 1 Turners Mersey Novice Hurdle over two and a half miles at Aintree on Grand National day.
This weekend we will have runners at Kelso, Newbury and maybe at Doncaster if the ground dries up. Flash Collonges has been waiting for some time for the good ground he needs and might head to Doncaster as a prep for the Scottish Grand National. Sans Bruit is under consideration for the £50,000 Premier Hurdle at Kelso and Kandoo Kid is on course for the Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury.
For all the latest news on my runners on Saturday please be sure to check out my Betfair column which goes live early on Friday.

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