Monday Musings: Keeping One Eye on the Pirate

January 26, 2026
Tony Stafford

On a weekend when the hot favourite for the Champion Hurdle pulled up halfway round his trial and the two top horses in the world continued their merry way in Hong Kong, there was still only one contender for the lead in today’s article, writes Tony Stafford.

I stress that I have not been put under pressure from the Editor of this column. I feel though that after a decade or so looking for a top horse for his various syndicates, Matt Bisogno has finally struck gold for geegeez.co.uk in the shape of Dartmoor Pirate.

People strive for many years vainly looking for the elusive “Saturday horse”. Matt and trainer Anthony Honeyball have certainly found one, not just good enough to run at the weekend, but one that can snaffle a much-coveted race, Doncaster’s Great Yorkshire Chase and its £56k first prize.

From the time in May 2022 when Honeyball picked up the son of Black Sam Bellamy at the Goffs May Sales (stores) at Doncaster for £16,000, the members have had to endure patience in the extreme, knowing that the trainer has always held a high opinion of the horse.

His first three seasons – initially with a single run in a bumper – have each been followed by a gap of between 220 and 251 days. At that stage, having been through the novice hurdle season and then handicapping, including a single disappointing run in a chase, his tally was one win from ten.

The seven-year-old’s latest campaign started a little more promisingly with a fifth at Chepstow, tiring late on after giving some hope early in the straight. Then everything clicked. At Lingfield over 2m6f he forged clear in the run to the line to bring a first win over fences at the third attempt.

It took a measure of bravery for Honeyball, with the team’s acquiescence, to go for the Great Yorkshire and up to three miles. Here he would be facing a fast-improving chaser in Grand Geste, another with only three runs over fences on his record, but the latest of them a massacre of the Tommy Whittle Chase field at Haydock last time.

Understandably, the Joel Parkinson/Sue Smith runner started favourite even after his 10lb hike for the Haydock race, but he was soon in trouble, never dominating as he had in Lancashire.

Dartmoor Pirate had been almost as severely handicapped (up 7lb) for his less spectacular effort at Lingfield. Here though, after dropping back early in the straight, he came with renewed vigour under Rex Dingle in the closing stages; caught front-running New Order before the last and strode away for a near four-length margin.

Some of the geegeez.co.uk team associated with Saturday’s winner had gathered further north at Catterick three days earlier in the expectation that their newcomer Luna Lux would bolt up in the concluding bumper. The Masked Marvel filly had cost €50k at Arqana as a yearling in November 2023 and Honeyball took her north anticipating a relatively soft touch first time out for the promising newcomer, away from the big guns.

There are very few soft touches around anywhere these days, however, and especially when opposed at present by runners from the Adrian Paul Keatley yard. His German-bred Nightflyer was heavily backed against the Honeyball favourite and duly obliged, Luna Lux ending a well beaten third.

That made it five wins in a row for Keatley, ever famous for his Irish 1,000 Guineas win with Jet Setting over Minding immediately before that O’Brien/Coolmore filly’s triumph in the 2016 Oaks at Epsom. Was it ten years ago? Really?

For good measure Adrian won a seven-furlong race at Newcastle soon after the Catterick success before the sequence ended at Meydan on Friday, so the UK winning run is still alive.

Nightflyer, for his part, was sold at the post-racing auction at Cheltenham on Saturday evening for £95,000 and will continue his career with Jonjo and AJ O’Neill.

As well as Dartmoor Pirate, the boys and girls from the syndicates can look back with pride at the career of Listed bumper and staying hurdle winner, Coquelicot. This Soldier Of Fortune mare won nine and was second in eight of her 28 races, successful in three bumpers, four hurdles and two more races when belatedly turning to the flat.

Her attraction at the time of the auction to Anthony and Matt was that she was a half-sister by Soldier Of Fortune to the Ebor winner and Melbourne Cup runner-up Heartbreak City. She was sold in the 2025 January sale for 40,000gns, much to the sadness of the owners who had enjoyed such a wonderful time with her.

And, with Olly Murphy, much the same group – though with some newer faces – have enjoyed tremendous success with Sure Touch, himself a winner of ten races (nine for the syndicate) including the 2024 centenary running of Market Rasen’s Summer Plate, another £100,000 handicap. After third and then second with latest Warren Chase inmate Gee Force Flyer, they hope to go one better at Leicester on Wednesday (weather permitting).

I was especially delighted at the Great Yorkshire win as my regular Ebor week host Jim Cannon and fellow guests for the meeting Ian Wallis, a retired maths teacher, and Pete Williams (always ready to reply when a microphone is thrust in his face), are all in the syndicate, as they are in Luna Lux.

While the other pair were there to celebrate the win – and Matt assures me celebrate they did! – Jim had family business to attend to. Jim and wife Mary have three grandsons, so it was off to see one play rugby; another take part in a performance in a modern dance group while in between the third had a birthday to celebrate.

In between, York resident Jim sneaked away to watch home-town football team Carlisle trounced by his resident side York City, 3-0. I trust watching the Pirate win on Saturday cheered him up a shade. I spoke to Jim in the morning of the race and asked what he fancied – he likes a little flutter. He said he noticed that Kripticjim was running at Cheltenham and he would probably back it even though the Tizzard yard was out of form. It won at 14’s so it would have completed a lovely 119/1 double linked with his own horse.

I said to Matt – himself later elated by hometown Bournemouth’s win over Liverpool – after the race, “He’s a potential Grand National horse for next year”. Considering that stamina-laden performance, I think he could be if Anthony can conjure a stone or so more on top of the mark of around 135 tomorrow morning when the new ratings appear.

Okay, I admit there were other things going on. When Sir Gino was suddenly pulled up by Nico de Boinville having sat last of four in the four-runner Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham, the howl from the course could easily be heard on my television set at home.

They had walked for most of the trip, and once the favourite had departed, it seemed a formality that The New Lion, then second-favourite for the Champion Hurdle behind Nicky Henderson’s Sir Gino, would have a facile romp around.

In the end he did win, Harry Skelton not troubled having to make ground from the last flight, but it was hardly an emphatic performance beating Nemean Lion (18/1) and 50/1 shot Brentford Hope by one and a half lengths and a head.

Yesterday we learnt that Sir Gino is out for the season, so it will be left to former Champion Constitution Hill to represent Henderson, no doubt dependent on his forthcoming flat run at Southwell. Betting on the big race at this stage is a minefield and it doesn’t help when the nearest to The New Lion in the betting, Lossiemouth, could be opting instead for the mares’ race at the Festival.

Further afield, the world’s two highest-rated horses, sprinter Ka Ying Rising and miler Romantic Warrior continued to stack up the earnings with wins at Sha Tin yesterday. Both had similar margins, but their starting prices were widely different, Ka Ying Rising going off at 100/1 on whereas you could get two to one on about Romantic Warrior.

Each earned almost £700k for his trouble, Ka Ying Rising bringing his win tally to 17 in a row, from 19, for £11.7 million. The older Romantic Warrior is now on 20 wins and five second places from 27 starts for £24.3 million. Almost as much as some footballers have to toil for two years to clock up!

- TS