I was looking forward to running Pacify in the Listed Novice hurdle at Kempton on Sunday, a race we had mapped out for him early this summer, and it was wonderful to see him shine in front of his owners HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and Sir Chips Keswick. He jumped and galloped them into submission under Gavin Sheehan to win by an eased down couple of lengths, and sets up a tilt at the Grade 2 novice hurdle at Cheltenham at the BetVictor meeting in November. To win 5 novice hurdles in a row takes some doing, and let’s hope he can make it 6 in a row!
Pacify wins the Listed Novice at Kempton - his 5th win from 5 starts over hurdles.
We were all on a high after that terrific win, so when Adrrastos followed suit in the valuable class 3 handicap chase that followed we were all riding the crest of the wave….. He too galloped and jumped the rest of the field into the ground, and it was the most exhilarating round of jumping under Gavin! He has won four since March of this year for Karen Gunn, and he deserves a holiday now. We’ll aim to bring him back for the spring and try to aim him for the Topham at Aintree.
Adrrastos is the second leg of our Kempton double.
Meanwhile, our super Sunday was about to get even better when College Oak won the bumper up at Sedgefield under Page Fuller for the Old Radleians, Lynda Lovell and Paul Stacey. It was a fine performance on his second career start and he looks useful. He is out of Best Mate’s sister and will go novice hurdling now.
College Oak wins his bumper and is the third leg of our treble.
Of our other runners, I was delighted Howdilyoudo was 3rd on her racecourse debut in a Fontwell bumper. She was pretty green and looks another exciting youngster who should progress over the course of the winter. Whilst, Midnight Chill ran well to be 5th on his seasonal reappearance and will improve with that run under his belt, and I am sure there is a big staying handicap in him this season.