Tag Archive for: David Pipe

Windbeneathmywings to miss Champion Bumper after ‘setback’

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Britain’s leading Weatherbys Champion Bumper contender Windbeneathmywings has been ruled out of next week’s Cheltenham Festival after suffering a setback.

A bumper winner in Ireland for trainer Patrick Flynn, the five-year-old made a scintillating British debut for David Pipe at Ascot in December when beating a whole host of previous winners by upwards of 14 lengths at Listed level.

Connections have since kept their powder dry for the spring and an appearance at Prestbury Park was under consideration, but he will not be heading to the Cotswolds.

In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Pipe said: “Windbeneathmywings will not be running in the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival next week. He has suffered a setback and so we will give him all the time he needs.

“It is a big blow for his owners and our team but our main priority is to get him right.”



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Windbeneathmywings ‘ticking over’ with Cheltenham on the horizon

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David Pipe’s Champion Bumper hope Windbeneathmywings is limbering up for the Cheltenham Festival as eligibility rules prevent him from running again following his facile Ascot victory.

The chestnut made a spectacular impact on his first run for the stable shortly before Christmas, dismantling a field of 13 opponents in a Berkshire Listed bumper run over a trip just shy of two miles.

No less than nine of those rivals had previously won a bumper, with Windbeneathmywings already successful twice under the code himself during his prior spell with Patrick Flynn in Ireland.

The five-year-old went off a 3-1 chance under Jack Tudor in what looked to be a deep contest, but he could hardly have won with more ease when strolling home 14 lengths ahead of the runner-up.

He immediately entered the Weatherbys Champion Bumper picture as a result of the victory and is now sharing favouritism with the Gordon Elliott-trained Kalypsochance for the Grade One event held on the Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival.

The eligibility rules of that race prevent the horse from running again ahead of the meeting, as entrants must not have more than three starts – or four if one of those starts was in a Graded or Listed race.

“He’s very well, he’s had an easy time since Ascot,” said Pipe.

“We’re just keeping him ticking over at home, then we’ll start building him up for Cheltenham in March.

“He wouldn’t be eligible if he ran again, so it’s straight there now, straight to Cheltenham.”

Windbeneathmywings after his Ascot victory
Windbeneathmywings after his Ascot victory (Steven Paston/PA)

Pipe is enjoying a successful season so far, having nearly exceeded last term’s total of winners already, with several months of the campaign still to come.

Three victories this term have been provided by the highly likeable grey King Turgeon, who has landed two handicap chases and the Grand Sefton over the famous Grand National fences.

He was most recently seen contesting the Somerset National at Wincanton, where he ran admirably under his 12st burden to finish third, beaten just over three lengths.

The run has seen his rating nudged up another pound to 140, a mark that is still unlikely to see him make the cut for a return to Aintree for the National itself.

He has been entered for the Edinburgh National at Musselburgh on Sunday and if not taking up that engagement, then his next outing will be under similar terms in a staying chase elsewhere.

King Turgeon in action at Leicester
King Turgeon in action at Leicester (Mike Egerton/PA)

“He’s in very good form, we’ve just made an entry for him up at Musselburgh,” said Pipe.

“I don’t know if he will go there or not, but he’s come out of Wincanton in good form, as usual.

“The handicapper has put him up another pound, he’s run a career best every time this season and that was another one – he’s having an amazing season.

“He won’t get into the National, but he’s done more than we could have dreamed of already this season.

“The plans for the rest of the season, whether we go to Musselburgh or not, will be to look at all of those three-mile plus staying chases.”



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Harney ‘battered and bruised’ after Fakenham fall

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David Pipe has delivered a positive update on jockey Gearoid Harney, who was injured in a fall at Fakenham on Sunday.

Harney was riding the Pipe-trained Micronormous in the Sky Bet Queen Boudicca Series Final Mares’ Handicap Chase when she slipped up on a bend, sending him head first to the ground.

The rider was taken to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital for assessment and the final race on the card had to be abandoned due to a lack of sufficient medical cover.

Pipe took to social media to report that Harney should make a full recovery after sufficient rest.

In a post on X, he said: “Thank you for your kind thoughts and wishes for jockey Gearoid Harney. Although he was knocked out and is battered and bruised, he is being allowed out of hospital and will be OK with some rest, these jockeys are made of strong stuff.”

Harney was in the news at Market Rasen on Friday after he mistakenly strayed onto the track during a race while going for a run, before then partnering the biggest winner of his career in the Listed bumper on Pipe’s Kingston Queen.



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Kingston is crowned Queen at Market Rasen

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Kingston Queen showed ample ability to win the Unibet Alan Swinbank Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race for David Pipe.

The grey is a three-mile point-to-point winner who made her British debut when third in a Chepstow bumper in November, with her next outing at Plumpton a step forward as she was beaten just a neck in second.

On Boxing Day she made her third bumper start in a Sedgefield contest and there she made all the running to secure an eight-and-a-half-length victory under 7lb-claimer Gearoid Harney.

The same jockey took the ride at Market Rasen, though his claim was void in a Listed event, and his mount started an overlooked 16-1 chance in a field of 10 promising mares.

Always prominent, the five-year-old was at the head of the field as they reached the home straight, but faced a challenge from the strong-finishing Charisma Cat in the closing strides.

She held on to prevail by a neck with Charisma Cat behind her and Dream Shadow, the 13-8 favourite, further back in third.

“She’s very tough and pretty straightforward,” said Harney.

“She is actually still quite green and she’s learning the whole time.

“After her last win at Sedgefield I said that whatever she does in bumpers, she’ll be even better going forwards and going up in trip.

“It’s brilliant that she’s got a bit of black type now. She was still green when she won the last day and she’s improved again today.

“I’d say the softer (the ground) the better, she’s as tough as nails and she’ll stay as well.”

Of the prospect of the mare lining up for one of the key bumpers at the spring festivals, the rider added: “I’ll let the boss decide that! I’m sure they’ll sit down and discuss a plan for
her.”

Harney had earlier been called before the stewards following the Unibet Middle Distance Chase Series Veterans’ Handicap Chase, although it was not for his ride in the race.

The jockey avoided injury after mistakenly jogging on the course during the extended two-mile-five-furlong contest, with the runners and riders safely navigating around him on the bend.

The stewards report read: “An inquiry was held to consider the circumstances surrounding why Gearoid Harney was jogging on the bend into the home straight, in close proximity to the runners and riders of this race. The stewards noted Harney’s explanation and reminded him of his responsibilities.”



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Windbeneathmywings takes flight for bumper demolition at Ascot

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Windbeneathmywings produced a spectacular front-running display to land the King Edward VII Ascot Membership Open National Hunt Flat Race at Ascot.

A dual bumper winner from three starts in Ireland for Pat Flynn, the four-year-old was stepping up to Listed class on his first start for David Pipe.

Sent straight to the lead by Jack Tudor, the son of Free Eagle was still full of running rounding the home turn, with a whole host of previous winners struggling to lay a glove on him in behind.

The further Windbeneathmywings (7-1) went the better he looked as he just went further and further clear in the home straight, with Tudor nudging him out to the line to score by a widening 14 lengths from Dan Skelton’s 9-4 favourite Moneygarrow.

Windbeneathmywings and Jack Tudor after winning at Ascot
Windbeneathmywings and Jack Tudor after winning at Ascot (Steven Paston/PA)

Pipe said: “We’re very excited with our boy. We’ll go for one of the big spring bumpers now, it was a very good performance.

“We thought he’d run a big race, but there were plenty of other winners in the race. He’s taken us back a bit!

“He’d always been a good work horse, but he just eats and sleeps at home and then wakes up on the gallops.

“He’s quite keen, he likes to race out in front and get on with it and that’s what he’s like at home, but in his stable he’s so quiet.”

Paddy Power initially cut the winner to 14-1 from 50-1 for the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival in March, but soon trimmed his odds further to 8-1. William Hill installed the Pipe runner as the 7-1 joint-favourite for the championship event alongside Gordon Elliott’s Kalypso’chance.

The runner-up had previously won a point-to-point before making a winning debut for the Skelton team at Chepstow in October.

Skelton was magnanimous in defeat, saying: “I thought it was a very good performance by the winner, so fair play to him.

“I think the Pipes have every right to be very, very impressed and he settled in front.

“We’ve won the race for second, but the winner had just gone – we couldn’t even get into a race with the winner, so fair play.”



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King Turgeon Grand National tilt could be in the pipeline

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David Pipe admits there is “a discussion to be had” regarding a possible tilt at the Grand National with King Turgeon following his latest victory at Cheltenham on Friday.

The six-year-old has made a flying start to his campaign, dominating his rivals on his reappearance at Chepstow before striking gold over the Grand National fences in the Grand Sefton last month.

He was all set for a return to Aintree before Storm Darragh forced the Becher Chase to be abandoned and he was quickly re-routed to Cheltenham, where he completed his hat-trick in fine style.

With a revised mark of 139, King Turgeon will almost certainly need a further hike in the weights to guarantee himself a place in the world’s most famous steeplechase in April, but Pipe – who won the Grand National with Comply Or Die in 2008 – believes there could still be more improvement in his progressive grey.

“We haven’t done much with him since, he’s been out in the field and he seems fine,” the Pond House handler said on Tuesday morning.

“The owner is going to come to the yard and we’ll have a discussion about where we’re going to go. I thought it was a good performance in the Grand Sefton, but he put in another career-best the other day and he’s obviously young and improving.

“There’s definitely a discussion to be had (about the Grand National). Jumping is one of his fortes, he’s strengthened up a lot and he showed a lot of courage to get back up the other day.

“He’d have to go and win again for us to be able to even think about the National and I haven’t even had a look at the programme book for his next race yet, so we’ll see.”



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King Turgeon surges up the Cheltenham hill for Pipe and Tudor

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King Turgeon bagged his second big prize of the season when rallying gamely in the Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Coming Soon Handicap Chase at Cheltenham.

The David Pipe-trained grey already had a victory over the Grand National fences to his name this season in the Grand Sefton.

Just like at Aintree, Jack Tudor made most of the running but with three furlongs to go he was headed, this time by both Our Power and the favourite, Chianti Classico.

It was Kim Bailey’s Festival winner who led into the straight under his new jockey Ciaran Gethings, but Our Power was pestering him and a few lengths down Tudor had pulled King Turgeon (9-4) wide for another crack.

He began to stay on powerfully up the hill and he ended up running out a convincing three-length winner, with Our Power edging top-weight Chianti Classico for second.

King Turgeon returns victorious
King Turgeon returns victorious (David Davies/PA)

Connections of the winner may not now be too concerned that their initial target, the Becher Chase at Aintree last weekend, was abandoned due to Storm Darragh.

Paddy Power and Betfair cut the winner to 33-1 from 50s for the Grand National.

Pipe said: “That was fantastic, horse and jockey were very good. He’s put in a career-best there. He’s only six, he’s by Turgeon and they’re slow to come to hand. It’s fantastic for the owners and our yard.

“The couple of mistakes he made we probably didn’t expect, but it probably helped him a bit. We let the others get on with it, it’s a galloping track and I thought the ground was riding slow enough.

“He’s battled on, he’s obviously matured again through the summer. He’s improving at a rate of knots.

“He’s always been a very good jumper and my plan was to win the Grand Sefton at Aintree, which he did, and everything after that was a bonus.

“We’re going to have to look at different plans again, he’s going to go up in the weights. He could be a Grand National horse one day.

“It’s great for Pond House, that’s the bottom line. It’s difficult to win here.

“It’s lovely to have some young horses come through, the hard work is done by the team back at the yard and this is for everyone.”

Trainer Kim Bailey has concerns for Chianti Classico
Trainer Kim Bailey has concerns for Chianti Classico (John Walton/PA)

There was a moment of worry for Chianti Classico after the race when Gethings dismounted and walked back to the weighing room on his own.

Bailey said: “I haven’t spoken to anybody yet, my travelling head girl is in the stables.

“He’s lame behind and is not weight bearing, so we have to wait and see.”



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King Turgeon handed possibility of Aintree return in Becher

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King Turgeon heads the list of entries for the Boylesports Becher Handicap Chase after his stylish Grand Sefton success.

David Pipe’s grey was making his debut over the Grand National fences on Saturday and produced a brilliant round of jumping to score by three and a quarter lengths under Jack Tudor.

His liking for the spruce fences was clear and with that in mind his name is on the list for a return to Liverpool on December 7, where he would be stepping back up to a trip of three miles and two furlongs that he won over at Chepstow first time out this season.

The plan is not set in stone, however, and there are other options available to the gelding as he looks to continue what has been a fine early season.

“He’s come out of the race very well, it was a lovely performance,” said Pipe.

“He jumped for fun, which we thought and hoped he might do, but it was lovely to see.

“I had the idea for a while that he might like the fences at Aintree and thankfully he did, it was great for Pond House and for the group of owners.”

Of an Aintree return the trainer added: “He’s entered in the Becher Chase so we’ll see what happens between now and then.

“Timing-wise it’s quite good, of course there are a few things to consider, the ground and so on, but they were early closing entries and it would have been madness not to put him in.

“He has other options as well, like the Welsh Grand National trial, so we’ll keep our options open for the time being.”

Kim Bailey’s smart chaser Chianti Classico is on the list of possible runners alongside Gordon Elliott’s popular grey Coko Beach, with John McConnell’s Mahler Mission and Stuart Edmunds’ Arizona Cardinal also given an entry.

Gavin Cromwell has put forward three horses in Ask Anything, Tyre Kicker and Yeah Man, with Jonjo and AJ O’Neill also entering three in Iron Bridge, Monbeg Genius and Regal Blue.



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King Turgeon takes Grand Sefton crown

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King Turgeon galloped on strongly to run out a deserved winner of the BoyleSports Grand Sefton Handicap Chase at Aintree.

David Pipe’s six-year-old had won by 10 lengths at Chepstow on his seasonal reappearance and took up a prominent position early on under Jack Tudor over the National fences.

They gave way to Frero Banbou for a while after the sixth last, but King Turgeon was back in front heading towards the final two obstacles and put in a couple of fine leaps to build up a decisive advantage.

The 9-2 chance ran right the way through to the line to score by three and a quarter lengths from the fast-finishing Vintage Fizz.

Tudor said: “He travelled round really nicely and jumped really well. It was great fun.

“He got passed going down by the Canal Turn, but it was good that I kept my place on the inner and I was able to take a breath and save my energy.

“From turning in to the line, all he has done is keep galloping. He has always been a good jumper and if he took to these fences, that was going to be his asset today.

“He is a French-bred horse and sometimes they can take a while to adapt and he’s still only six, so is probably just starting to come into himself and come round to the British way of racing.

“It was a great thrill to get my first winner over the Grand National fences – they are always good fun to ride over especially when you get a good spin.”

Pipe added: “I am thrilled. It is brilliant for everyone in the yard. This is a massive win on a big Saturday for Pond House and his owners (Somerset Racing).

“We had this race in mind for him for a while and if he took to the fences like he does to normal fences, then he had a chance. He had schooled well over a Grand National fence at home.

“It was a fantastic ride by Jack.”

David Pipe trains King Turgeon
David Pipe trains King Turgeon (David Davies/PA)

Jedd O’Keeffe was delighted with Vintage Fizz’s effort in second and is already looking forward to a return visit to Aintree in the spring.

He said: “That was an absolutely outstanding run for us and really exciting.

“He was given a lovely ride (by Conor O’Farrell) and got into a lovely rhythm. It was a race we had wanted to target for some time and we have got lucky as he is basically a goodish ground horse and in other years he wouldn’t have been so lucky – I think it was heavy last year.

“We just sneaked in at the bottom and he jumps boldly, as well as athletically and carefully, so this was a race we always fancied having a go at.

“The Topham Chase in the spring and this race again next year would be his targets if he gets his ground again. The Becher Chase would be too far for him, so he’ll have his holiday now and come back in the spring.”



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Price Movement in NH Racing Markets

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In a recent article I compared the Early Morning Odds of horses (EMO) with their Opening Show odds (OS) and their final Industry Starting Price (SP) for UK Flat racing, writes Dave Renham. In this piece I will revisit the idea but the focus now is on UK National Hunt racing. Data has been taken from 1st January 2021 to 30th September 2024. How similar will the patterns be? Let’s take a look...

Strike rates by market movement profile

To begin with let's make the process easier by using abbreviations for the different price movements. So, for horses that shorten in price I will use the abbreviation ‘S’; for horses that remain the same price I will use ‘R’; for those that drift in price (lengthen) I will use the abbreviation ‘D’.

There are nine possible combinations in terms of price movement within these two timeframes (EMO to OS, and OS to SP). Below is a graph showing the percentage of runners for each price movement combination.

 

 

As you would expect the bar chart is similar to that which we saw when analysing flat data. The D/D group made up roughly a quarter of all runners and is comfortably the most likely pattern to be seen of the nine.

Performance Metrics by market movement profile

Now that we know how likely each combination is to occur we can examine the combinations in more detail by breaking down their performance in terms of strike rate, profitability, ROI% and A/E indices:

 

 

Two of the three combinations where a drift occurred between EMO and SP, D/D and R/D, produced by far the worst figures across all the metrics (SR%, ROI% and A/E indices). In fact, both combos would have lost you significant money if betting to BSP. The D/D group would have lost you 13p in the £, the R/D group lost a whopping 22p in the £. To put this into perspective if you simply backed all NH runners in every race over this time frame you would have lost just under 6p in the £ betting to Betfair SP.

Shorten / Shorten (S/S) Runners

The best figures came from the horses that shortened in price in both time frames – the S/S group. It makes sense to explore the S/S group in more detail given they have produced the best overall performance. I want to start by breaking the S/S results down by National Hunt Race Type. I will look at A/E indices first:

 

 

As can be seen the figures for chases and hurdles are virtually identical, but there is a steep drop off down to the A/E index for NH Flat races (also called bumpers). On to the Return on Investment percentages (ROI%) now to see what they show. The ROI%s are based onto Industry Starting Price returns:

 

 

There is positive correlation between the A/E indices and the ROI% figures at SP, with losses far greater for NH Flat runners who have the S/S profile. This is reflected at Betfair SP, too, with chase and hurdle qualifiers losing 4p in the £, NH Flat qualifiers more than 11p from every pound. Why this is the case is probably because NH Flat races tend to be made up of relatively unexposed horses. Hence, some horses will be supported in the betting based on what they might have shown away from the racetrack. Others will be backed solely due the trainer or the owner rather than the form or inherent ability of the individual horse in question. Hence punters and bookmakers are not always able to base their opinion on cold hard facts in these bumper races.

Sticking with the S/S group let me share how well these runners have performed in terms of Class of Race. Here are the full splits (there were only a handful of Class 6 events, hence they have been lumped together with the Class 5 stats):

 

 

The figures suggest that the S/S group has performed less well at either end of the class spectrum. Qualifiers from both Classes 2 and 3 made blind profits to BSP which is perhaps no surprise given their high A/E indices.

If we focus on the Class 1 races and look at the subset of Grade 1 to Grade 3 races the figures for the S/S group are poor – 66 wins from 511 qualifiers (SR 12.9%) for a loss to SP of £155.56 (ROI –30.4%). The A/E index stands at a lowly 0.75 and even to BSP losses were steep at £137.59 (ROI –26.9%). Horses that are constantly backed through the day, and then again late on, do not look the safest betting propositions in these Graded contests.

My next port of call was to look at the A/E indices of the S/S group of runners in terms of what odds they were priced up first in the morning – their ‘EMO’. Here is a graphical representation of those data:

 

 

Essentially this data is telling us that the for the S/S group the shorter the price the better in terms of ‘value’. The 17.0 to 23.0 and the 26.0+ groups are slightly out of kilter, but overall, it looks like horses priced 4.5 (7/2) or shorter early doors are the ones to focus on. Indeed, backing all horses from this shorter price EMO subset (1.01–4.5) would have lost you only 1p for every £1 staked to BSP.

Price movement by trainer

I want now to examine some trainer data, starting with horses that shortened in price from EMO to OS, i.e. the S/S, S/R and S/D groups. To begin with I would like to share some trainers with percentage of runners split for each of these groups. These are the handlers with the highest percentage of runners that match the S/S profile, listed along with the S/R and S/D percentages also:

 

 

Melanie Rowley tops the list with nearly 49% of her runners that shortened between EMO and OS continuing to shorten from OS to SP. To give some context the average percentage of runners’ figure for ALL trainers for the S/S profile is 35%. However, in Rowley's case, it did not lead to a profitable outcome; in fact, quite the opposite – one would have lost 44p in the £ backing all her S/S runners to SP; and it was still a 40p in the £ loss to BSP.

Profitable S/S trainers

There were, however, six trainers in the list who did make a profit to SP with these well-backed runners. The six were Henry Daly, Ben Pauling, David Pipe, Sandy Thomson, Tim Vaughan and Mark Walford. Below is a table containing all trainers who made blind profits with their S/S group of runners, listed alphabetically:

 

 

If only we could have predicted which of their horses were going to have the S/S pattern, then we could have backed them at their Early Price and made even more impressive profits. Nevertheless, none of the trainers in the above list had winners at huge prices that skewed their bottom lines so they look a group who know when they've got a live one.

A dozen trainers made a blind profit including one of the most powerful stables in the country, that of Paul Nicholls. When the Ditcheat yard's horses have shortened from EMO to OS and again from OS to SP, they have produced an outstanding strike rate of over 35% and returned more 8p in the £ profit. What is interesting is that only 28% of the Nicholls runners that shortened in price between EMO and OS then continued to shorten to SP, whereas 48% of them drifted in that final period. It is also interesting that this subset of runners (the S/D group) also performed well with 123 going on to win from 401 runners (SR 30.7%) for an SP profit of £25.57 (ROI +6.4%). To BSP this improves to +£62.65 (ROI +15.6%).

Overall, you could have made a healthy profit to BSP by simply backing ALL Nicholls runners that had shortened in price from EMO to OS.

D/D Trainers

It is time now to briefly look at some D/D data for trainers. I want to focus on horses that had Early Morning Odds of 10.00 (9/1) or shorter to avoid skewed results due to big–priced winners. Obviously, the strike rates of trainers with horses that drift from EMO to OS and then continue to drift to SP are not going to be that impressive. Below is a table of the top 15 trainers with the D/D profile in terms of strike rate:

 

 

No surprise that only three trainers have made a profit to SP, but that figure rises to nine at BSP. Of the trainers in that table, Paul Nicholls has seen significant losses with his D/D runners. They look worth swerving.

At the other end of the scale here are the trainers with the lowest strike rates from their D/D runners with their EMO 10.00 (9/1) or shorter:

 

 

It would make sense with this group of trainers to, unless you are a layer, ignore their horses if they have drifted from EMO to OS and are starting to drift again from their OS price as we near the ‘off’.

For the record horses priced up early at 10.00 (9/1) or bigger that show the D/D profile have won just 1.6% of their races (228 wins from 14220 qualifiers) for losses to SP of £6949 (ROI –48.5%). Losses are obviously less steep when looking at BSP returns but losses are still over 21% (21p in the £).

Finally, let me share one significant stat from the most influential NH owner, JP McManus. When his runners are popular in the market and show the S/S profile they have secured a 29% strike rate and returns of 6p in the £ to SP. His runners showing the D/D profile, however, perform poorly hitting a strike rate of 8.7% with SP losses of 30p in the £.

Market Movement is an integral part of the betting picture and I hope this article has provided some useful pointers for the National Hunt season which is just about to click into top gear.

- DR



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Veterans’ triumph in Ramses De Teillee’s sights

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Ramses De Teillee will attempt to go one better than 12 months ago when the veterans get the chance to shine at Warwick on Saturday.

The Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase was the headline attraction on last weekend’s abandoned Sandown card, but all is not lost for some of the sport’s most popular warriors, with the race rerouted to the Midlands with a first-prize of £38,580 on offer.

David Pipe claimed the first ever running of this event with Soll in 2016 and came close to adding to his tally 12 months ago as Ramses De Teillee failed to reel in Mel Rowley’s shock scorer Wishing And Hoping.

Correcting the record has been top of the agenda ever since and having been kept fresh for the contest, a stroke of fortune sees the race take place at a venue where the gallant grey has impressed in the past.

“It’s great that they have rescheduled it and it is a very popular race,” said Pipe.

“This has been the plan all season and he’s in good form and won round Warwick last year so we know he handles the track.

“He goes well fresh which is a positive and we’re looking forward to it. It would be lovely if he could go one better this year and he’s in flying form at home.”

There is a stacked field of 14 heading to the start of this three-mile event but none arrive in better form than Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Good Boy Bobby, who pounced late to prevail against Aye Right at Chepstow before adding to his tally at Sandown.

Now owned by Dash Grange Stud, the 11-year-old will bid for a hat-trick in first-time cheekpieces which connections hope will help him negotiate the early stages of the contest.

“Bobby has been brilliant this year and this has been the target since Jayne McGivern (of Dash Grange Stud) bought him and kindly sent him back to us,” said Willy Twiston-Davies, assistant to his father.

“He’s wearing cheekpieces because it is going to be a bigger field and a lot more competitive than his last two, so hopefully it will help him get a good start and travel over the first few.

“He looks in very, very good form at home and the track and trip will be perfect and we’re expecting another bold bid.”

Thomas Darby carries Olly Murphy's hopes
Thomas Darby carries Olly Murphy’s hopes (Mike Egerton/PA)

Venetia Williams’ Cepage and Olly Murphy’s Thomas Darby both arrive having tasted victory in their most recent outing.

The latter, who was fourth in the Chepstow event won by Good Boy Bobby on his return, took a good step forward to deny the reopposing Mill Green over track and trip and possesses a touch of class that could see him thrive even at this late stage of his career.

“He’s in good form and this has been the race we have targeted ever since he won at Warwick the last day and we’re looking forward to running him,” said Murphy.

“He has course-and-distance form and fingers crossed he will have a good chance in a competitive race.

“It will be his first run in what would be a really big-field competitive handicap over fences, but for his age I think he is pretty unexposed over the larger obstacles.”

Harriet Graham and Gary Rutherford’s Aye Right has had to settle for minor honours behind both Good Boy Bobby and Thomas Darby so far this term.

The consistent 11-year-old will be partnered by the talented 7lb conditional Dylan Johnston as Graham and Rutherford seek to further reduce Aye Right’s burden and connections dream of landing a first victory since the 2021 Rehearsal Chase.

“We made the decision to put a 7lb claimer on because he is not a big horse and we have always felt the handicapper has never really relented on him and we just thought we should try it,” said Graham.

“Dylan is one of the good up-and-coming conditionals, so we thought we would give it a go and we’re quite excited about it.

Harriet Graham's Aye Right
Harriet Graham’s Aye Right (PA)

“The handicapper has let him off a little bit but it’s taken a lot of asking. Even to qualify for the race, because the qualifiers are 0-150 and he was 154 I think, I had to get the handicapper to drop us so we could qualify.

“He has relented slightly, but when you compare him to Good Boy Bobby who beat us at Chepstow and we beat him two years ago in the Rehearsal, I think he has been a lot more lenient with him and he’s never gone up to the same extent that Aye Right ever went off.

“We know Aye Right always runs an honest race and because of his front-running style, he’s hardly hiding, but it’s great to have a horse like that.”

Fellow northern raider Top Ville Ben went close at Aintree on Boxing Day and is another heading into the race with good form to his name, with Richard Hobson’s Lord Du Mesnil another to make the podium prior to this.

Two For Gold has been a real stalwart for trainer Kim Bailey
Two For Gold has been a real stalwart for trainer Kim Bailey (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

Meanwhile, set to shoulder top-weight is Kim Bailey’s Two For Gold, with the handler thrilled to give his high-class staying chaser the chance to compete amongst his fellow elder statesman.

“It’s a very competitive race and the poor old chap has to carry top-weight,” said Bailey.

“If he finished in the first four I would be thrilled to be quite honest, but having said that he seems in a very good place.

“Veterans’ races are very popular and I’m a big supporter of them.”



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Welcome return to Cheltenham winner’s enclosure for David Pipe

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There was a fitting start to Cheltenham’s November Meeting when David Pipe’s American Sniper landed the opening Lycetts Insurance Brokers Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

The Pipes have been synonymous with success at this meeting down the years and although Pond House may be lacking the stars of old, they showed they can still land a punch on the big occasion as American Sniper (16-1) led home a one-three for the Somerset team, with stablemate Paricolor picking up the bronze medal.

It was Pipe’s fourth win in the race since 2014 and first at the track since the spring of 2022 with a first-time tongue-tie working the oracle on his winning five-year-old, who was never involved over three miles at the track last month.

“We probably haven’t got as many as we used to, but we fancied both of them and they finished first and third,” said Pipe.

“On their best bits of form they had chances. We’ll enjoy today.

“We put a tongue-tie on him for the first time which probably helped and he likes a bit better ground, so obviously first race of the meeting it obviously helped.”

Brendan Powell delivered Triple Trade (100-30 favourite) with perfection as Joe Tizzard’s seven-year-old hunted down Dan Skelton’s Calico late in the day to go one better than his running on second here in October.

Jockey Brendan Powell celebrates winning aboard Triple Trade
Jockey Brendan Powell celebrates winning aboard Triple Trade (David Davies/PA)

“I thought it was a lovely race for him today and Brendan gave him a peach,” said the winning trainer.

“He was always going to play him late-ish and he didn’t get into him until the last and won nicely. It was a proper performance.

“The horse deserved to win off his last form and he’s improving all the time. He’s been sharper since that last run, a lot of my horses were needing the run three weeks ago and I expected a big performance and it came off.

“He’s one of the cheapest horses we’ve ever bought, he cost £12,000 I think it was, so he was cheap and three good lads own him. Dad said he was a Gold Cup horse when he bought him but couldn’t get him on the track for 18 months.”

Triple Trade could now be tasked with replicating Amarillo Sky’s Newbury victory in the Coral Get Closer To The Action Handicap Chase on December 2.

“I would be half-tempted to take him to Newbury at the end of the month,” added Tizzard.

“There is that nice handicap at the end of the Saturday that we won with Amarillo Sky.

“We will see how he comes out of it, but I’m tempted by that and it is in the back of my mind. These two milers, you can run them a bit more frequent.

“We were never dreaming he was an Amarillo Sky, but he’s heading in the right direction isn’t he and I’m really tempted to take him to Newbury if it is nice and soft in a couple of weeks’ time and keep having a lot of fun.”

Also in the winner’s enclosure was Nicky Henderson, who got his hands on the concluding Valda Energy Novices’ Handicap Hurdle thanks to 2-1 favourite Impose Toi.

Impose Toi wins the Valda Energy Novices’ Handicap Hurdle
Impose Toi wins the Valda Energy Novices’ Handicap Hurdle (David Davies/PA)

Henderson said: “He’s a sort of novice dressed up, he’s only a novice until about four days time and by the end of next week he’s not a novice, so it was a tidy race for him to aim at to start the season. He has to go play with the grown ups now.

“He’s got the experience running in a novice handicap like that and everything was in his favour today and it will only get harder. But having said that he is a very, very likeable character and a straightforward horse. He used to be a bit keen but he has given that up. He will jump a fence and a nice horse for the future.

“You could go to an intermediate hurdle because it is for last season’s novices, but that was a 0-125 so we can’t get carried away.”

Future assignments could include a pre-Christmas trip to Ascot for the the Betfair Exchange Trophy, while Henderson also believes the five-year-old could step up in trip before the end of the season.

“AP (McCoy) mentioned that (Ascot) and it would be a race,” continued Henderson.

“That’s quite a step up and we’ll have to see what the handicapper says, but I wouldn’t be getting too carried away at the moment. He’s done that well and his life is in front of him, he’s progressing anyway.

“He does stay and he got two-and-a-half last year. He was a bit free over two-and-a-half last year but now he’s racing more professionally, you could probably go to two-and-a-half. He wouldn’t be whizzing round Fakenham, he wants a nice galloping track.”



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Classic-placed Wordsworth off the mark for Pipe over hurdles

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Former high-quality Flat performer Wordsworth made an impressive stable debut over hurdles for new connections at Bangor.

The chestnut, who is by Galileo, was bred and owned by Coolmore previously and trained by Aidan O’Brien to runner-up finishes in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp, plus third place in the Irish Derby.

He then changed hands at the end of his four-year-old season and was briefly campaigned by Josh Halley, picking up second-placed honours on his hurdling bow at Ballinrobe in July.

Subsequently he changed ownership and stables again and settled in with Pipe for long-term Pond House supporter Professor Caroline Tisdale.

The Nightingale House Hospice Maiden Hurdle was his first run in her silks and the horse was sent off the 10-11 favourite under Jack Tudor.

He set out to make the running and hardly saw another horse throughout, jumping with accuracy and confidence to stride to a straightforward 13-length victory.

“He did it very well, he hurdled well. He was obviously a good Flat horse and they don’t always translate it to hurdles,” said Pipe.

“He seemed to have the right attitude and I’m sure he’ll get further in time.

“He’s been very good at home, he attacks them (hurdles) and he enjoys it. We’ve been impressed with his schooling since day one.”

A return to the Flat is now on the agenda as Wordsworth holds an entry for the Cesarewitch at Newmarket on Saturday week, a race particularly favoured by Tisdale.

“He enjoyed it out in front and the plan, all being well, is that he’ll go to the Cesarewitch next Saturday,” Pipe said.

Of Tisdale he added: “She’s a very loyal owner and we’ve had some fantastic days, hopefully there are more to come.

“One of her favourite races is the Cesarewitch and that was one of the reasons for buying the horse.”



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Pipe eyeing Cesarewitch date with new recruit Wordsworth

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Wordsworth will be pointed towards the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket having recently joined David Pipe ahead of dual-purpose duties.

He finished second at Royal Ascot, third in the Irish Derby and also runner-up in the Grand Prix de Paris when at his peak as a three-year-old, with the son of Galileo also going close in the Sagaro Stakes and Curragh Cup when tried in staying contests by former trainer Aidan O’Brien last year.

Since leaving Ballydoyle, Wordsworth has appeared twice for Irish handler Josh Halley, finishing fourth in His Majesty’s Plate at Down Royal before rattling the crossbar when jumping hurdles for the first time at Ballinrobe.

He has now switched to Pond House with further endeavours over timber on the agenda for the winter, but before that he will line-up in the Newmarket marathon on October 14 for which he is a general 20-1 chance and where Pipe will bid to replicate his father, Martin, who won the race in both 2000 and 2002.

“He ran over hurdles the other day in Ireland and finished second and he’s only just recently arrived,” said the trainer.

“He has an entry in the Cesarewitch and that will be the plan.

“He is rated very highly and a nice addition to the team. He’ll be a dual-purpose horse for us and it’s nice to have him on board.”



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Jack Tudor following illustrious footsteps with top job at Pond House

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Jack Tudor has landed the prestigious role of stable jockey to David Pipe at his famous Pond House Stables.

The vacancy became available in February on the shock immediate retirement of long-time number one Tom Scudamore, and Tudor’s services have been called upon regularly by Pipe since, riding for the yard at the Cheltenham Festival.

Tudor, who has ridden four winners for Pipe in his career so far, follows in the footsteps of not only Scudamore but the likes of Sir Anthony McCoy, Richard Dunwoody and Peter Scudamore to be in possession of the Pond House top job and Tudor admits he has big shoes to fill following Pipe’s announcement of the news.

“It’s obviously a big move for me and I’m looking forward to it and excited to see what happens,” he said.

“It’s a role that has been filled by great jockeys before and there are big shoes to fill, but hopefully I can fill them.”

The 20-year-old shot to prominence when partnering Christian Williams’ Potters Corner to win the 2019 Welsh Grand National, while Kitty’s Light is another of the Welshman’s string to provide Tudor with big-race success, winning Newcastle’s Eider Chase earlier this season.

Tudor was keen to pay tribute to Williams as he makes the move from Ogmore-by-Sea to Somerset and hopes to continue linking up with the man who has nurtured the early days of his career when his new association allows.

Jack Tudor celebrates his victory on Potters Corner in the Coral Welsh Grand National Handicap Chase with trainer Christian Williams
Jack Tudor celebrates his victory on Potters Corner in the Coral Welsh Grand National Handicap Chase with trainer Christian Williams (David Davies/PA)

“Christian has been brilliant to me for the past five years,” continued the jockey.

“I’ve worked with him since I was 16 and I dedicate all my career so far to him and the reason I am able to get opportunities such as this are because of him giving me chances and trusting me for so long.

“I’ll look forward to keeping that relationship going with Christian and riding as many of his as possible and hopefully David and Christian can work well together and we can have plenty of success.”

Grand National-winning trainer Pipe write on Twitter: “I am excited to announce that @jacktudor9 will be stable jockey at Pond House, supported by our existing team of jockeys. He is a talented young rider with big-race experience.

“We look forward to exciting times ahead #newbeginnings.”



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