Wednesday 29th January 2025 - six more winners take us to 40 for the season.

We started the month off well with four winners on the bounce including two in front of the ITV cameras.  Another couple of winners in the last two weeks have brought up 40 for the season, and with three months of the season still left, another career best season is in sight.

Torneo started the New Year off with a much-deserved success at Taunton.  He has really developed into a smart novice chaser this season, and having hit the crossbar on a couple of occasions, he deserved to get his head in front.  Under a lovely patient ride, Gavin delivered him perfectly and he won going away.  We tried to follow up at Newcastle on Tuesday but in a slowly run contest, he just ran out of time to get back up and was 3^rd.   We’ll give him an easy couple of weeks now and then try to target a valuable race at Kempton in mid-March.

Young Will Featherstone gave Double Click a wonderful ride, as he kept cajoling him along, and won well down at Ffos Las in front of the ITV cameras.  Double Click appreciated the step up in trip, and looks a progressive handicapper now.  We might head back to Ffos Las with him next week.

On the same card, Gavin produced a masterclass ride to save all the ground around the inner, to win on Up for Parol, who hadn’t won for a few years, but had run some big races in some big handicaps.  He too appreciated from going back up to 3m, and he might creep into the bottom of the Pertemps Final at the Cheltenham Festival.

I was thrilled to see Jack Sprat back in the winners enclosure at Exeter under a really polished ride from Will Featherstone.  Having gone chasing earlier this season, I think he appreciated being back over hurdles, as he jumped really well and won pretty easily.  As that was a conditional jockeys race, we escaped a penalty and ran again at Doncaster last week.  However, the majority of the jumps were omitted due to the low sun, and Jack didn’t appreciate the ‘bending’ flat race, which weaved in and out of the chase track, and was unable to get passed a wall of horses in front of him.  I am sure he will be able to win again over hurdles this season.

Another horse who has appreciated being back over hurdles this season is Super Survivor, who followed up his Doncaster win last month, to win a Pertemps qualifier at Huntingdon last week.  It has been a wonderful team effort to get him back on form after he lost all confidence after disappointing in the Welsh National last season.  He too could be on target for the Pertemps Final at the Cheltenham Festival.

It was fabulous to notch up our 40^th winner of the season when Livingit Du Large won at Chepstow on Monday.  It was his second time on the racecourse, and he improved for his debut to win very comfortably.  He is a proper staying chaser for the future, so we’ll be patient and let him mature and strengthen in his own time.

We ran a few horses at the Winter Millions weekend at Windsor and Ascot.  Hardy Du Seuil was only beaten 3 lengths in the £110,000 handicap hurdle, and we’ll now head to the William Hill hurdle at Newbury, and then onto the Imperial Cup.  You Wear It Well was favourite for the Grade 2 Towton Novice chase, but as that was cancelled, we ran her in the Grade 2 Lightening Novice at Windsor, where she found the track a bit tight and sharp.  She was 4^th there, but we might give her a spin back over hurdles next, and she could go for the Listed race at Warwick next weekend.  Meanwhile, Git Maker had his seasonal debut over hurdles at Windsor and that will have sharpened him up before we head to the Grand National Trial or the Eider.   Laurens Bay qualified for the EBF Final when 4^th under a penalty in a decent novice hurdle at Ascot.  That final is also the aim for Epic West who was 2^nd under a double penalty at Fontwell.  

I was thrilled to see Lucy’s first homebred Ce Mi Run (by Flemensfirth x Bouche De Noel) run a blinder to be 2^nd on her racecourse debut in a bumper at Newcastle for Tom Mold.  She travelled through the race well, was outpaced entering the straight, and was green when asked to challenge, but she found plenty for pressure and ran through the line really strongly to be 2nd…..and closing on the winner to be beaten only ¾ of a length.  She spent her first three years over in Ireland with Michael Moore and Denis Leahy, and they have done a wonderful job to produce her so well. 

It was a great shame that Farceur Du Large was narrowly beaten in the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown when trying to win back-to-back running’s of the prestigious race.  He missed a couple of fences in the back straight, but kept on well up the home straight but time just ran out. He will head to the Royal Artillery Gold Cup next, in attempt to win that race back-to-back as well.  

Of our other recent runners, we took a lorry up to Ayr for a northern road trip where Admiral Stewart ran really well under a penalty when 2^nd in another novice hurdle and is capable of winning again this season.  He will make up into a lovely novice chaser next season.  Bumper winner, Audacious Annie was 3^rd over hurdles in the mud but will improve for some spring ground.   Whilst, Golden Maverick would surely have won but for a terrible blunder when 3 lengths clear at the last!