We are heading to Aintree with plenty of runners for the Grand National meeting which starts on Thursday. Ginny’s Destiny, Kalif du Berlais and Bravemansgame have solid chances in the first three races on the card while Cap du Mathan should give my daughter Olive a great spin in the Hunter Chase. Ginny’s Destiny hasn’t stopped improving since he joined us at the start of the season. In time I’m sure he will get three miles but the two and a half mile Grade 1 Chase looks the right option for him at Liverpool after his fine performance at Cheltenham Then it is the turn of Kalif du Berlais who is ..read more

We saved the best to last at Newbury on Saturday with the brilliant victory of Regent’s Stroll in the £100,000 Goffs UK Spring bumper. A gorgeous, big strong horse from the family of Denman, he made a stylish winning debut at Ascot in November and I’ve had the valuable Goffs race in mind for him ever since. That was partly because I didn’t want to risk him picking up another penalty and it was a brave shout by his owner Chris Giles to go along with my plan even though as a five year old, Regent’s Stroll had to give a stone to most of the four year olds in the race. He won with authority at New ..read more

We ended an eventful week with a double on Saturday which took our score for the season to 109 Seriously testing conditions at Cheltenham after heavy rain didn’t play to our strengths but Monmiral excelled in winning the Pertemps Final. He has always had loads of ability but didn’t take to chasing and needed the run at Chepstow when he qualified for the Pertemps by finishing fourth. I thought he had a sporting chance of finishing in the money but didn’t really expect him to win like he did. He will head to Aintree next. Ginny’s Destiny ran a blinder in finishing a close second to Grey Dawning ..read more

An excellent double at Kempton on Saturday advertised the good form of our team as we enter the final two months of the season. Kalif du Berlais was the first to strike with a determined success in the Grade 2 Adonis Hurdle. He’s a horse with a big future and maintained his unbeaten record by defying a 5lbs penalty with a determined finishing run as he saw off Givemefive in a tight finish. He had a hard enough race and will not be going to Cheltenham for the Triumph Hurdle. If he does run again this season it will be in the juvenile hurdle at Aintree though I wouldn’t lose any sleep if we deci ..read more

A sparkling double at Ascot on Saturday took the prize money won by our horses this season soaring past £2 million. The victories of Pic D’Orhy and Threeunderthrufive provided a much needed tonic for Team Ditcheat after the heart-breaking events a fortnight ago. While both horses were outstanding at Ascot they did have the advantage of a jockey riding with great confidence as he edged ahead of Sean Bowen in their absorbing duel for the championship. You can be sure I will be doing everything I can to help Harry gain his first title. He stole half a dozen lengths advantage on Pic D’Orhy at the ..read more

Winners seemed totally insignificant when the I heard the heart breaking news that Keagan Kirby had died after a fall in a Point-to-Point in Kent eight days ago. It happened when the horse he was riding ran out through the wing of a fence on the second circuit at Charing and tragically he could not be saved. There have been a lot of tears shed by Team Ditcheat since then because he was a lovely lad, one of our best work riders, and had made huge progress since joining us in the summer of 2019. Only 25 he was deservedly shortlisted for the Thoroughbred Employee awards this year. Keagan was pass ..read more

Ginny’s Destiny was the star of the show at Cheltenham on Saturday with a sparkling display from the front under top weight in the Class 2 Timeform Novice Chase. He has now won three times at the track this season and will be returning to Cheltenham again in March for the Turners. It’s the same route taken successfully by Stage Star a year ago and Ginny’s Destiny looks to have equally strong claims. He has improved massively since joining us this season and on his homework I was confident of a big run on Saturday. I haven’t had many improve that much over a short period of time since Master Mi ..read more

Normal service resumed after the big freeze with the stylish success of Inthewaterside in his first handicap hurdle at Lingfield on Sunday. Inthewaterside was our only runner of the day, the first for a week and made light of his opening mark of 120 with a fluent victory from the front. He was given a fine tactical ride by Harry Cobden who poached an early lead, dictated the pace throughout and kept enough in hand to see off the late challenge of He’s A Latchico. This bought up Harry’s 100th winner of the season. Inthewaterside is a gorgeous horse with a big future and I blame myself for runni ..read more

Two classy French recruits offered untold promise for the future on a weekend when Pic D’Orhy came tantalisingly close to landing the Grade 2 Silviniaco Conti Chase for the second year running. Kabral du Mathan set the ball rolling with a stylish success on his debut for us in a Class 2 Juvenile Hurdle at Huntingdon on Friday and Kalif Du Berlais was every bit as impressive when winning very nicely in another Class 2 juvenile hurdle a day later at Kempton. They both made light of their 8lbs penalties for winning their sole starts in France. Although they had been doing everything together at h ..read more

With several race meetings called off and more than half our team on the easy list after their mid winter flu jabs we made a quiet start to January. Joyou Allen made a highly pleasing debut for the yard with an impressive success in the bumper at Exeter on New Year’s Day. He’s a lovely prospect, a half brother to the Ryanair winner Envoi Allen, and showed bags of promise when second in his Point-to-Point in Ireland to a horse who has already made his mark in this country. We have taken our time with him, he’s been working nicely, made all the running at Exeter and kept on strongly in the closi ..read more