WEST Somerset trainers Philip Hobbs and Johnson White notched up three winners in the space of 48 hours when jumps racing resumed after the Christmas mini break.
Imperial Saint (11-4) got Boxing Day off to a winning start when he won the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteeed Handicap Chase over two miles and four furlongs at Aintree Racecourse.
It was an early start to ensure that the six year old arrived in plenty of time, and after feeding Imperial Saint at 3.50 am Johnson White loaded him into the horse box before driving to the north west course accompanied by groom Maddie Turner. They departed from Bilbrook at 5.00am and returned to the yard before 7pm after a round trip of more than 480 miles.
Johnson said: “Sadly, for most of the trip it was so foggy that we couldn’t see anything but we got the result we hoped for. Imperial Saint is very progressive and jumps superbly well and he was A1 the following morning. It was a long day but a really great day which made it all worthwhile.
“It’s really nice to have winners for Dicky (Richard) Johnson who we have had such a long association with and the really nice syndicate that are involved with him.”
Johnson, who rode over 3500 winners and was champion jockey on four occasions, was the retained jockey at Sandhill Racing Stables for many years and now runs the syndicate which owns Imperial Saint said: “Imperial Saint has been fantastic this year and we are delighted with him, especially going over fences. He looks like a horse who keeps improving and we will have a lot of fun with.”
He added: “It’s always great to be able to have a horse with Philip and Johnson after they were so good to me as a jockey.”
However, Imperial Saint wasn’t the dynamic duo’s only success on Boxing Day because nearer to home at Wincanton, Thomas Mor ridden by Sean Houlihan won a Handicap Hurdle race over three miles and half a furlong at 11-1.
The following day the yard enjoyed further success when Lowrys Bar won a handicap chase over two miles, three and a half furlongs ridden by Micheal Nolan going off at 11-10.
Johnson said: “It was great to see Thomas Mor winning after being off the track for 650 days.”
The West Somerset duo continued with their winning ways on Monday when they chalked up a treble at Taunton
First up was Langley Hundred who triumphed in the third, a handicap chase over two miles seven furlongs, under Micheal Nolan after going off at 11-4 favourite.
The second came when Tiny Tetley bred and part owned by Ron Hodges who has a long association with west country racing along with Sarah Hobbs, won the three mile handicap hurdle under Callum Pritchard going off at 5-2.
Tom Doniphon completed the treble, winning the last at 9-4 to round off a memorable day - the pair’s first treble.
These recent successes bring Sandhill Racing Stables tally to 26 for this season, but there looks to be plenty more to come from the yard at the rate they are going.
To find out more about Philip Hobbs and Johnson White log onto pjhobbs.com
The next race meeting at Taunton is on Wednesday, 8th January, 2025, when the first race is due off at 12.45pm.
On this occasion Taunton has a Two for One ticket offer available so to take advantage of this please log onto www.tauntonracecourse,co,uk