THE horses continue in good form and it was fantastic to start the new week with a winner at Plumpton on Monday with plenty of other good efforts from the team. Lady Balko improved on her seasonal comeback run and enjoyed making all the running under Jack Tudor on just her second start over the larger obstacles.
Kingston Queen improved on her bumper debut to run another good race to be second at Plumpton.
Vision De Maine was next closest to winning but was narrowly beaten by a horse with a similarly progressive profile to our five year old. There was nothing to choose between them jumping the last before that one edged on and we were then closing again at the line.
Chemical Warfare stumbled badly turning for home in his race at Wetherby and could not recover to challenge for places and finished fourth. Shot Boii improved on his seasonal reappearance with a good front running ride from Harry Cobden at Hereford. With the visor back on, he travelled sweetly and galloped all the way to the line. He will appreciate a return to a stiffer track with more emphasis on stamina.
Chauffeur Driven posted his best effort for a while at Taunton to finish just out of the placings while Skinfull showed more promise on his chasing debut to be fourth. Walkadina ran a nice race to be fourth at a very competitive listed mare’s hurdle at Newbury on Saturday. Remastered never really looked that happy in the Coral Gold Cup before unseating Jack mid-way down the back straight the last time. He has returned home safe and well and we will re-group and make a plan for him in the coming days. Neon Moon ran okay at Newcastle in the Rehearsal chase to be sixth without ever really being involved in the business end of the race.
Our next runners will be on Thursday when we have entries at Leicester and Wincanton. On Friday, it is Exeter and at the weekend, we have entries at Aintree and Chepstow.
Our top novice hurdling prospect, Jurancon was due to be running at Ffos Las on Monday but that meeting was abandoned. He has further entries at Leicester, Exeter, Aintree and Chepstow and I shall pick the most suitable race for him to run in.
King Turgeon has two entries on Saturday and he could line up back over the Grand National fences at Aintree in the Becher Chase. He does have an entry at Chepstow as well but providing the weather does not interrupt plans he is likely to head to Liverpool. With Coko Beach being confirmed for the race on Monday morning, we carry just 10st 2lb and many of the runners will be racing from out of the handicap. He is near the head of the betting for the race and all being well he will line up on Saturday.
Another horse I am looking forward to seeing back on the track in the coming days is Gentlemantoboot. He made a pleasing stable debut to be third in a Newton Abbot bumper and he is a horse I think a lot of for the future. He has entries at Exeter on Friday and Chepstow on Saturday and will run in one of these races; the more rain the better for him.
Thanksforthehelp, Gold in the Rivers Eden Du Houx, Itseemslikeit and Pachacuti are just some of the names we will hopefully see on the track in the coming days so keep checking the Daily News on the website for the latest information on the stable runners.
Dave Pipe’s column