It was a great thrill to see Pisgah Pike winning the Summer Hurdle at Market Rasen on Saturday, under a top-class ride from Gavin. It had been the plan for some time, and so for it all to go so smoothly and for him to win it, gave us all a lot of satisfaction.
Pisgah Pike - the Summer Hurdle winner.
Pike had been a decent novice hurdler and was only just beaten in a Listed handicap at the track several years ago, but we had taken the opportunity to go novice chasing last summer, where he won a couple of small events. However, he was always a better hurdler, but was 6lbs better off over the smaller obstacles, so this had been the plan for a while. He needed his warm up run over fences at the start of the summer, and this was his second run off the back of a wind operation, and we had first time cheek pieces on – and it all just clicked into place. I am thrilled for the whole team, as although we’ve got a smaller summer team this season, this just showed how we’re trying to go for quality over quantity. Let’s hope our bigger winter team prove just as successful!