Near-miss at Rasen, no joy at Uttox

Two of the four runners intended to take their chances at Market Rasen on Friday did so in the end. Unfortunately DIAMOND CUTTER failed the vet before running; a shame, as the ground - officially good, but riding more like good to soft after biblical storms in the Midlands that day - would have suited him infinitely better than the good to firm he did turn out on at Uttoxeter two days later (see below). DAN DE LION was a non-runner on account of the ground, apparently - odd, as he too prefers give.

Those that did run were REEDSMAN in the selling handicap hurdle and JIMMY BYRNE in the novices' handicap hurdle. Reedsman once again did himself few favours by refusing to settle early on, and had defeated himself by three from home. He trailed in 36.5l adrift in eighth place, and the modicum of promise shown at Hexham a couple of runs ago hasn't been built on since. Jimmy Byrne, however, put in a very encouraging performance on his first run for Richard Guest since being moved by Keith Middleton from Brian Ellison. Lit up by a first-time visor, and appreciative of the rain-softened going, he was sent clear by Henry Oliver three out, and was only headed by a progressive James Hetherton mare on the run-in. He is engaged again at Worcester on Wednesday, and if the forecast rain does arrive by then and ensure going no faster than good, he makes obvious appeal.

The same rain that had doused Market Rasen on Friday took any jar out of the going at Uttoxeter today, and the Summer National meeting was played out on perfect summer jumping ground, i.e. safe good to firm. Richard Guest sent three horses into battle, and came back home with four, but alas no prizemoney - frankly none of his runners came close to scoring.

The most disturbing performance was that of BEAVER in the opening hurdle. A Group 1 Flat horse in Australia two years ago, he would have won on his hurdling debut at Southwell in January but for taking the last hurdle by - um, well, if portable hurdles had roots he would have taken the last hurdle by them, suffice it to say he blundered it particularly badly. On his only run since then, at Kelso in May, he pulled up with a breathing problem and, alas, it resurfaced today despite the application of a first-time tonguestrap. He trailed in eleventh, a comprehensively beaten favourite, and connections have a bit of head-scratching to do here.

What should be less of a problem for them to get their heads round is this; a short trip on fast ground is NOT what Pequenita needs. She ran in the Class C two mile handicap chase and put in a performance very similar to that she did on fast ground at Southwell over just a furlong further three runs ago; basically scaring herself silly on a surface she didn't like and pulling up after seven fences. This was her first run for four weeks, and I had presumed she'd been put away in anticipation of a soggy autumn. Was Guest pot-hunting in running her here? If so, why didn't something like BILL'S ECHO or LIK WOOD POWER, who would both have got into the race on their ratings and would have liked the prevailing going, even get a five-day entry in Pequenita's stead?

DIAMOND CUTTER ran as well as could be expected in the handicap hurdle, given that the ground here wasn't nearly as favourable as it would have been at Rasen. He was there with every chance entering the straight, but was thereafter outsprinted by horses happier on the surface and finished eighth in the end.

As expected, Richard Guest's lead in the trainer's championship has been overhauled now by That Bloke From Nicholashayne during this past fortnight of few runners, but at least last weekend's haul at Hexham helped delay the inevitable until a few days ago. That the big £40,000+ prize at Uttoxeter today went to Charlie Mann's Rheindross helped stop any of the big guns sprint away, as his season's prizemoney wins prior to that were still only in the low £20,000s. Up until today's racing, the table looked like this, and judging by today's results won't have altered significantly;

Pipe £156,483.21
Guest £148,565.50
Nicholls £119.869.30
Hobbs £116,619.88

Speaking of money, and going back to the £6,000 Guest shelled out today, he is now the proud owner of ASTRONAUT, claimed from Martin Pipe (who also owned him) after finishing third in today's 2m 6.5f selling handicap hurdle. Although a 3yo maiden winner on the all-weather for William Haggas in 2000, he had been of very little account subsequently until landing a selling handicap hurdle - again at Uttoxeter, but over 2m 4.5f this time - in August 2003. Pipe paid £6,000 for him that day, and the horse has improved for the discipline of hunting and point-to-pointing, winning three opens this year (since the Easter weekend, at that) having had a season off since that hurdle win. He is completely unraced over regulation steeplechase fences so makes obvious appeal as an animal to pitch into moderately-contested summer novices' chases, albeit with the caveat that he's got rotten legs and will need all of Guest's talents to keep him sound.

This coming week has started much like last with FIENNES missing the cut of yet another race, this time a 0-55 6f handicap at Wolverhampton. He was fully 9lb away from the cut this time, and it's looking increasingly unlikely he is going to find an opportunity outside of Banded Racing in the near future, with every Class 5 and 6 handicap so well patronised by trainers of moderate horses. No such problems with the jumps, however, with cards at Perth on Wednesday and Thursday and Worcester on Wednesday likely to offer Guest plenty of opportunities for the barrel-load of runners he has declared;

WORCESTER, Wednesday
====================

Entries for BALLYBOE BOY, DIAMOND CUTTER, DONOVAN, HE'S HOT RIGHT NOW, JIMMY BYRNE, PEQUENITA, WHAT'S A FILLY and XAIPETE (2).

PERTH, Wednesday
================

Entries for BALLYBOE BOY (2), NOSAM, PEQUENITA, WHAT'S A FILLY and YORK RITE.

PERTH, Thursday
===============

Entries for APADI, BALLYBOE BOY, BEAVER, COLLEGE CITY, DONOVAN, DRUMOSSIE, HE'S HOT RIGHT NOW, WHAT'S A FILLY and XAIPETE.

There are some major points of interest here. Firstly, ALL of the declarations for WHAT'S A FILLY are over fences, and would therefore represent a chasing debut for her were she to take up any of them. BALLYBOE BOY, DONOVAN and HE'S HOT RIGHT NOW are engaged in chases only as well, Donovan's return to chasing - one feeble attempt at Hereford fifteen months ago his only attempt to date - having been mooted by Guest a few weeks ago. Conversely, all of XAIPETE's entries are over hurdles; one of these in a Class C handicap, but the others in a selling and claiming hurdle. I know the chances of a 13yo with pins in his leg actually being claimed in one of these races is very remote, but I wish Guest would stop tempting fate by entering him in these races - it's not good for my nerves! Finally, DRUMOSSIE is another ex-New Zealand animal, and one whom Guest first advertised for sale to a potential owner or syndicate of owners by the innovative bloodstock.tv website last autumn. The Racing Post website, however, indicates that he will start out as an owner-trained animal.

Wednesday - Sunday resume

A bit to catch up on from the last few days, then.

OOH AH CAMARA did not take her chance at Royal Ascot at York on Wednesday after all, Richard Guest apparently sharing the view of several trainers that that and Tuesday's ground at the Knavesmire - ostensibly good to firm but very loose and skiddy on top - was too horrible to race horses on. She did, however, line up in the Group 3 Albany Stakes, a 6f sprint for fillies, two days later. The ground was "proper" good to firm by then, and ultimately not to her liking, as she hung left ill at ease on it, eventually finishing about 11.5l back in seventh. She will be of interest back on softer ground, although there's no obvious prospect of her getting that for now.

The two Worcester entries mentioned last time did take their chances, however. Predictably DAN DE LION was beaten hollow in the seller, finishing 15th of 16 finishers. He is going to remain hard to win with, especially whilst the ground continues to ride this fast. Good old XAIPETE ran another sterling race in defeat, however, given the Plan A ride by Larry McGrath of being held up before advancing inside the last third of the race. He encountered some trouble in running when another rival unseated three from home and hampered him badly in so doing, but for which he would have finished even closer than a 9.5l length fourth place. Next time, Xaipete. You'll see.

Thursday evening saw a visit to Aintree, for the revival of a June evening meeting the course had hosted a couple of years ago but dropped quickly. I must say the prospect of horses pelting around the Mildmay Course - to my mind a horrid, lethal gaff masquerading as a classy track - on fast ground has always terrified me on equine welfare grounds. There were few worries on this occasion, however, as (i) earlier rain had turned the going to a mixture of good and good to soft, (ii) the only Guest runner on the card, BEAUGENCY, managed to last just two fences of the novices' handicap chase before unseating Larry. However, it was good to see Tim Vaughan, so long a stalwart of the point-to-point riders' ranks, scoring a win in that race with Lonesome Man, the first runner he has sent out from his Bridgend yard since gaining his permit to train.

And so to today's action. Three declarations at Hexham became two, as DIAMOND CUTTER was pulled out of the closing novices' hurdle on account of the fast ground, thereby depriving Henry Oliver of his first ride for eight days (well, if you won't go looking for outside opportunities in the meantime, Henry...). WET LIPS did take his chance in the extended 2m 4f novices' chase, though, and after swapping the lead with Dad's Elect (would have been an apposite winner on Father's Day, perhaps?) from the Ian Williams yard from halfway onwards, scooted clear at the last to break his duck over fences at the third attempt.

The win takes Wet Lips' career earnings past £35,000, but this was still only his second ever career win in the UK. He's not ungenuine, rather, he has been higher tried than the majority of Richard Guest's New Zealand horses over hurdles the last two seasons and has frequently found one or two too good. That one previous win was certainly worth it, however; an ingenious bit of riding from Henry saw him scoot a mile clear from flagfall in a Class C hurdle at Musselburgh, Henry wanting to test whether odds-on shot Altay - then rated 129 and the winner of the Swinton Hurdle the May before - could concede 25lb and chase him down in a sprint for home. He couldn't, and Wet Lips and connections went home £10,000 better off. He also got nearly £9,000 for finishing second in last season's Totesport Summer Hurdle, and, now his effectiveness over 2m 4f looks more assured than twelve months ago, one wonders whether Guest will be aiming him for the same Market Rasen meeting in mid-July this year, albeit fot a crack at the Summer Plate this time.

The win nudged Larry onto the nine-winner mark for the season, already within five of his total for last term, which never got going after that succession of injuries during the summer. Seven of these winners have been for Guest, the other two for Richard "Forest Gunner" Ford, for whom he's two from two on Croc An Oir. Like Wet Lips, Croc An Oir is owned by Concertina Racing, who have moved the horse to Ford from Venetia Williams this season. I wonder if messrs Tyrell, Lennon et al had a say in Larry's deployment on the horse. Ford looks keen to be exploiting Croc An Oir's lenient hurdles mark - it was 34lb lower than his current chase mark before the first of those two victories, and is still 14lb lower even after reassessment following the second of them.

Back to Guest's runners at Hexham, BILL'S ECHO got back on track - after his UR over fences here last week - in the extended two mile handicap hurdle when chasing home a Jimmy Lambe tartar to within six lengths. He has never won over hurdles and is rated over a stone lower over them than fences, the problem during his first stint over timber seeming to be an absence of sufficient speed to get truly competitive over the minimum trip. It may not be coincidental that this personal best finish over hurdles has come at a particularly stiff track - what a shame that, with no further meetings at Hexham now until September, there are no stiff tracks in operation at all now for some three months. Might need to be a step up in trip somewhere else for Bill's Echo next time up, then.

Looking to the week ahead, there are once again relatively few engagements for Guest horses to which to look forward. 37-rated Flat sprinter FIENNES is getting balloted out of race after race; his latest disappointment is failing to make the cut in a race at Nottingham tomorrow, and he's only 39th in the list of 42 acceptors for a race at Beverley on Tuesday, so don't hold your breath for that one, either. Assuming he doesn't make it into that contest, the earliest we can expect to see any Guest runner in action next will be Market Rasen's Friday card, wherein DAN DE LION (2), REEDSMAN (2), WET LIPS, BILL'S ECHO, DIAMOND CUTTER, JIMMY BYRNE and BEAUGENCY all hold engagements. Diamond Cutter's race is one of the best of a decent card, a Class C handicap hurdle over 17.5f . It being his handicap debut, he has been alloted a rating of 107, which Guest might think is a bit excessive given how soft the race he won at Cartmel was. Jimmy Byrne is a new name to the Brancepeth ranks, having been campaigned on the Flat and over hurdles by Brian Ellison until April. A clue to his arrival here might be that his owner, now as then, is Ceresfield's owner Keith Middleton. As that mare continues to struggle for form and fitness, is Jimmy Byrne intended to run from Brancepeth as well as or instead of her?

Ooh Ah, York runn-ah!

An interesting development which can only have happened in the last 24 hours or so is that owner Willie McKay - who already has LES ARCS and ADMIRAL at Brancepeth - has moved his 2yo filly OOH AH CAMARA at very short notice from his main flat trainer, Vicky Haigh in Bawtry, to the care of Richard Guest. The horse's first run for Guest? Oh, just in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot At York this afternoon!

She comes into the race with a lively enough chance - she's trading at around 7/1 - although she's had a very busy season so far, with seven runs inlcuding one in Capannelle, Italy, last time out. One big thing in her favour, though, is that her two wins to date have been on ground at least as bad as good to soft, and if it's tanking it down in York anything like it is here in Birmingham just now, this is going to aid her cause no end. John Egan, who was on board when she won a £12k+ conditions stakes at Chester, again takes the ride.

You may remember an odd 2yo race at Doncaster in March, wherein Guest's horse GARLOGS - whom he'd only claimed from Mick Channon a couple of days earlier - won a seller in McKay's colours. That horse was won at auction, but Guest then claimed the third home, PARIS ST GERMAIN, who was another McKay-owned animal in training with Haigh! Musical stables, but with cash involved. Guest has yet to run this horse.

Away from the top hats and tails, DAN DE LION is turned out again quickly in the selling handicap hurdle at Worcester, as I suspected he might. The rain in the Midlands will have aided his cause, but this is a very good event of its kind, with several of the 20 runners entering the race in winning or decent form, so I can't imagine he's going to step up on Saturday's tame effort at Hexham.

Also at Worcester today, my absolute favourite horse in the yard, XAIPETE, turns out for the 2m 4.5f handicap chase; and if nothing would give Guest more pleasure than to see NOSAM win again, then another victory for Xaipete would run it pretty close. He's still after that elusive 18th career victory (a 17th for the Mason / Guest franchise), but after a couple of below-par efforts around Easter, he's reverted to his usual honest, consistent, banker for a place finish, and the handicapper has also started to relent a little more (the horse hasn't run over fences off 101 for a while). He gets in off bottom weight here, with good reason, as it's a fair little handicap, and I wish him the very best in his quest for a first victory in 21 months (and his first over fences for 28).

Hexham disappointment and VERY quiet week ahead

NOSAM didn't take his chance in the end, so it was left to BILL'S ECHO and DAN DE LION to try to add to Richard Guest's score for the season. Alas, Bill's Echo lasted just four fences before giving Larry McGrath no chance of staying on board with a major blunder. This was the horse's first non-completion over fences, but I expect we'll see him out again pretty quickly as he'd hardly had much of a race.

Dan De Lion was beaten 38.5l into tenth place in the Class F handicap hurdle, and doesn't look much like a winner in waiting on that evidence. He is next entered in a selling handicap hurdle at Worcester on Wednesday night along with Reedsman; apart from these, the only other engagements for Richard Guest animals between now and Friday are a couple of possibles for the wonderful veteran XAIPETE on the same card, one for BEAUGENCY at Aintree the following night, and a couple at either end of the week in Flat sprint handicaps for FIENNES.

Ostensibly this light week's campaign leaves Guest vulnerable to having his lead at the top of the jumps trainers' table wrested from him by any of the usual protagonists, but let's not lose sight of the fact that - much as I admire the operation - this lead is very much an inflated, false position borne of keeping so many of his early spring horses on the go for as long as he has (and plenty of the soft ground horses at that, in the hope that courses like Cartmel stayed boggy, which this time round they did). Some of them could do with a rest now, or even be put away until the autumn - the likes of Flintoff, Pequenita and He's Hot Right Now, in particular, don't owe him anything more this summer - so a quietening down for a couple of weeks is probably no bad thing.

Nosam at Hexham!

Not got much time to do a preview, as I've left it rather late in the evening and I'm off to a point-to-point at Chaddelsey Corbett tomorrow. However, if you're anywhere near Hexham - or a bookies screen showing it - be sure to cheer on that grand old campaigner NOSAM in the 2m 4.5f handicap chase. At 15 he is one of the oldest animals left in training, and his rating of 88 is fuly 22lb lower than the last one off which he won at Sedgefield 21 months ago. However, his enthusiasm for the game is uttely undiminished, and he is Richard Guest's favourite horse in the whole yard, having been responsible for sorting out his headbanging ways nearly a decade ago and being his trainer or assistant trainer ever since. The race is not great, despite the large field, and the ground should be perfect. Fingers crossed that he can reproduce the form that saw him finish fourth - beaten only one length - in a blanket finish at Fakenham two runs ago.

The likeliest winner of Guest's three runners at the Northumberland track is almost certainly BILL'S ECHO, who improved dramatically for the switch to fences last year and picked up two contests at Bangor-on-Dee. His is the best race on the card, a tight little contest between half a dozen or so animals almost level on official ratings, but he ought to be bang on for this following an encouraging return in a handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter a week last Sunday, in which he finished an in-touch fifth out of a very big field.

The other runner is DAN DE LION, back for his fourth run this season. He has not really taken to steeplechase fences the last twice, finishing out of the money on both occasions, but before that he had put in a career best effort when fourth in a bad Towcester handicap hurdle over the minimum trip. This return to timber presents him with many of those conditions once again, such as fast ground and a stiff two miles, but he still doesn't leap out particularly as a winner in waiting from the 19-strong field.

May purchases and Uttoxeter no-show

First things first - neither READY TO RUMBLE nor TIPSY MOUSE got a run at Uttoxeter this evening as Richard Guest was suitably unhappy with the state of the ground. He has run animals on ground faster than the good to firm of tonight's card as recently as last week (Hexham was firm), but I imagine the state of tonight's good to firm cannot have been that safe in comparison.

I didn't see any of tonight's racing, but there have been at least three occasions I know of since last September where Uttoxeter meetings have been played out on poor ground with numerous obstacles dolled off. Two consecutive meetings I attended in September were blighted by faulty drainage, resulting in false ground and fences omitted; and last Thursday, although the steady rain had admittedly turned the going to soft, the disruption to the course proper was disproportionately high, with stacks of guard rails placed everywhere to help horses avoid large areas of bad ground again evidently created in the same areas as in September. Is everyone connected with the course starting to lose the plot without the late Sir Stanley Clarke presiding over matters? Recent beefs to the press, such as the relaying of continuous adverts over the PA system, and the permitting of alcohol to be taken into the stands, indicate the course's behaviour is starting to irritate the public, and too many more rotten surfaces are going to have certain trainers thinking twice about returning to the track in a hurry too.

And relax.

As promised last night, herewith a list of all the purchases Richard Guest made at the Tattersalls Doncaster Sales from May 24th - 26th. They certainly bear repeating as there are a few particularly eyecatching buys among them, although I personally think it's asking a lot of Shotgun Willy - very much a stayer on the downgrade, rising 12, and with the silliest walk in the racing world - to justify even having 16,000gns spent on him. Watch him prove me wrong this autumn now! All bar Upswing were bought in the ring, he being a private purchase from Bob Johnson away from the action at some stage of the Sales. All prices are given in guineas;

May 24th
4yo b g Epervier Bleu - Falcon Crest (unraced and un-named); 75,000gns.

May 25th
Upswing; 3,500gns

May 26th
Chivalry; 50,000gns
Tipsy Mouse; 22,000gns
Shotgun Willy; 16,000gns
Shannon's Pride; 13,000gns
St Pirran; 10,000gns
Jodante; 10,000gns
Yvanovitch; 6,600gns

In total 206,100gns were blown on nine horses in three days, and the 75,000gns shelled out for the Epervier Bleu 4yo represents a new Brancepeth record for the most money paid for a horse by either Richard Guest or Norman Mason before him. The previous high was the 60,000gns paid for Admiral last October. Chivalry's 50,000gns price-tag installs him as the third priciest Brancepeth purchase ever. Discussion on racing forums seems to suggest Guest will campaign Chivalry as a top-class novices' chaser this term... but didn't Graham Wylie and Howard Johnson discard him primarily because it was thought he'd be too quirky to take to fences? This could be interesting...

Uttoxeter Thursday

Another summer week, another Uttoxeter evening meeting, and Richard Guest has two horses declared. READY TO RUMBLE made a reasonable reappearance from a winter break when finishing sixth at Kelso last month, but looks to have it all on off bottom weight in the 2m handicap hurdle. I was surprised when Guest brought him back from New Zealand, as he had far more miles on the clock than most of the animals he sources from down there - 50 Flat runs spread over five seasons and a thoroughly exposed look about him in that discpline. As he's already an 8yo, a switch to fences really ought not be long in coming.

The other runner for Guest tomorrow is far more intriguing, being TIPSY MOUSE, a full brother to 1995 Grand National winner Royal Athlete and until three weeks ago a Trevor Hemmings-owned inmate of Sue Smith's yard. He looked to have a cracking future ahead of him in marathon chases during 2003-4, but it seemed the strain of all those big runs over 3m - 4m caught up with him last season, and he was still struggling at the end of it even after being dropped nearly a stone in the ratings. No matter, he wouldn't be the first jaded animal Guest has breathed new life back into if he improves again for his handling, and his introduction tomorrow - in a 3m Class D handicap chase - seems reasonable enough. Alistair Whitehouse-Jones of the Racing Post rightly makes the point that the likely fast surface really ought not inconvenience him too much, given his sibling's preference for it (another full sibling, Lambrini Bianco, is an improving animal and landed a Southwell chase on good to firm last month) and despite him having run mostly on soft recently. I do seem to recall him landing a Hexham chase on the first day of the 2003-4 season, and it was definitely riding good or faster that day.

Tipsy Mouse was one of numerous purchases from the Tattersalls Doncaster Sales in the final week of May, and there were quite a few high-profile horses inamongst those now residing at Brancepeth - Wylie / Johnson cast-off Chivalry, former Grand Annual winner St Pirran and formeryl useful staying chaser Shotgun Willy to name but three. This seems as good a point as any for me to dig out the list of these purchases, so I'll out this in the next entry I do.

Gryffindor pair do alright...

BEAUGENCY and DIAMOND CUTTER both managed to win small bits of prizemoney in their respective races at Market Rasen this afternoon. BEAUGENCY again jumped well on his second run over fences, and, having been held up in touch in the way Larry McGrath likes to ride so many of this mounts, was sent into the lead two from home. However, this proved to be a lead he could not sustain very long, and he tied up rather up the run-in to come in 6.5l adrift in fourth place. Whether it was the trip that got him, I'm not sure - this was the furthest he has run over to date, but this was a sedately run race over one of the less taxing 2m 6.5fs you'll come across. Maybe his breathing problems resurfaced close home, and if so, it could be that a tonguestrap will be added to the cheekpieces he already sports next time out,

DIAMOND CUTTER's win at Cartmel recently was a bit soft, and he probably achieved as much today in getting within 5l of the winner on ground far livelier than he has been used to thus far. As with his UK debut - and as with so many of the yard's New Zealand horses, it seems - he pulled fearsomely early on and got tapped for toe when the race sped up coming up the straight, but he ran on again up the run-in, and might appreciate just a little bit further than the 17.5f he's encountered this last twice.

Chester omission - and a win at that!

One of the pitfalls of following such a heavily jumps-oriented stable is that it is easy to overlook its few Flat ventures when they take place. To that end I completely managed to miss the fact that Flat mainstay LES ARCS had a run in a handicap at Chester on Tuesday evening at the same time there were a couple of Richard Guest animals in action in the more familiar territory of Huntingdon. Not only that, whilst Reedsman and Ballyboe Boy were floundering at that track, Les Arcs was scoring his second win on the bounce and his fourth in total for Guest and owner Willie Mackay.

It sounded like an eventful race, as one of his rivals fly-jumped the starting stalls, unseating his rider in the process, and the loose horse's attentions to the field were close enough that he crossed the line together with Les Arcs, having trodden all over his hooves on at least one occasion. I don't know enough about Flat racing to know what would constitute a hammering from the handicapper following a win, but the gelding did only win by one length in the end and wasn't going away from the field.

I'll be interested to see what plans are for Les Arcs hereafter. Guest has made no secret of the fact that it is ADMIRAL, rather than Les Arcs, with whom he anticipates picking up big Flat prizes this summer - not entirely unsurprising a conclusion, that, given that Admiral was a Royal Ascot winner last year - and Les Arcs did feature in five-day declarations for a novices' hurdle at Perth last week before being withdrawn overnight when it became apparent the ground would be bottomless and thus wholly unsuitable. Les Arcs had one run over timber last season, but got stuck in the sticky toffee - sorry, sticky ground at Cartmel's August meeting and also appeared to blow up partway round on his way to a remote eighth place. This predated his wind operation, however, and it is reasonable to assume that given fast ground and a sharp track, he must be able to do better over timber if sent back over it in the near future.

Huntingdon and Rasen

No joy for the two Guest runners at Huntingdon last night. REEDSMAN was reasonable well behaved on this occasion but found little for pressure when asked and was beaten around 14l into seventh place in the conditional jockeys' selling handicap hurdle. Given the particularly poor quality of the race, even by selling standards, this might have been a bit of an opportunity missed. Still, he likes fast ground so will presumably be given a few more opportunities as the summer wears on.

BALLYBOE BOY's jumping was appalling - too big at some fences, rather guessy at others, and he was down on his hindquarters at the water jump. He finished twelfth of thirteen finishers in the handicap chase, and does not look an obvious winner in waiting. This was a Class F chase, so he could hardly step much further down in grade by way of assistance.

As regards today's contests, Richard Guest has left two in at Market Rasen's afternoon meeting, and it's the two horses owned by www.racingtours.co.uk (t/a Gryffindor) which take their chances. You won't be able to miss them - Gryffindor's colours mostly consist of a stinging, eyeball-peeling magenta jacket. BEAUGENCY features in the 2m 6.5f handicap chase, his first attempt at the trip, and connections must be hoping his breathing difficulties don't resurface, as his jumping on his first attempt ovcer fences at Hexham last Tuesday was certainly sound enough.

DIAMOND CUTTER reappears in the novices' hurdle. He had everything fall his way when scoring on his UK debut at Cartmel a week last Saturday; the funereal pace really didn't call into question his race-fitness (this was his first outing for 345 days), and despite being the fastest ground he had encountered over jumps to date, the good to soft, soft places was still perfectly fine for him. How he copes with likely good to firm conditions and a weight concession today is open to conjecture, but then this is not a strong race by any means.

Huntingdon, Tuesday

Richard Guest's first runners of what looks like a comparatively quiet week for him are REEDSMAN and BALLYBOE BOY at Huntingdon's Tuesday evening meeting. Not one of the yard's most productive tracks, this - Page Point's victory in a hurdle over Easter was the first Mason / Guest winner there for over four years - although one that is visited frequently enough. This is the last meeting there until the August Bank Holiday, Huntingdon not really being part of the Summer Jumping racecourse roster proper (Hereford similarly shuts up shop for a few months after tomorrow's meeting also).

Reedsman runs in a conditional jockeys' selling hurdle and has the particularly capable Paul O'Neill in the plate. He's been pinging in the winners for both Guest and Venetia Williams since moving full-time to the UK in January, and won't be claiming tht 7lb for much longer! As for the horse, he is one of the most delinquent animals ever to represent the yard, with two last-minute unseatings and one crashing through a wing of a hurdle to his name. That said, his last two runs - a rather streaky second in a Fakenham seller when five horses departed in front of him, plus a fourth in an amateurs' race in the soothing hands of Claire Metcalfe - have shown a modicum of improvement, so Paul might not be in for quite the frightening experience he may have expected a few weeks ago. If the thing does win, I can't imagine the yard will be particularly diving into its pockets to buy him back at auction - it's noticeable that since Gemma Charrington withdrew her interest in Reedsman over a year ago, Richard Guest has not tried to sell that ownership on to anyone else but himself....

The extended two-mile chase is Ballyboe Boy's race, and connections will be hoping for more luck than at Hexham last Tuesday night when, in a bizarre old incident, another horse rearing whilst in the throes of refusing to race bundled Henry Oliver off Ballyboe and the partnership out of the race instantly! Henry will, I suggest, be keeping a closer eye than usual on all other participants down at the start....

Under starter's orders....

....and away! This is - or will be, once I've stuck some stuff in it - a Blog devoted to the runners, riders and results of the Richard Guest racing stables based up at Brancepeth Manor Farm, Co. Durham, England. Formerly the base of leisure magnate-turned five times champion permit trainer Norman Mason, the license passed during February 2003 to Guest, forever associated with the extraordinary success of Red Marauder in the 2001 renewal of the Aintree Grand National (by common consent one of the most gruelling renewals in history, owing to the barely raceable muddy ground that day). Already over 100 winners have been sent out from the yard, one which prides itself on training horses as close to nature as possible, and at the time of writing Guest has taken an early lead in the 2005-6 jumps trainers' championship with a stupendous first six weeks of the campaign behind him.

Please keep checking this Blog for news, reviews, analysis and - if I can work out how to append them - photos and stats pertaining to this most fascinating and deserving of racing set-ups.

BrancepethFan is not as yet, sadly, endorsed by Richard Guest or anyone associated with the Brancepeth Manor Farm operation, although I'm always hopeful that this will one day be the case.

Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)