Emma Lavelle isn't one to let the grass grow under her feet, judged from the well-being of her string if today's results from Newton Abbot are anything to go by. The Marlborough trainer maintained her 50% strike record with a treble, punctuated by a second from her other runner at the West Country's first fixture of the belated new season.
Names you might not normally associate with Summer Jumping have kept their strings ticking over during the 100 or so days of racing abstinence, and there's an appetite about to make up for lost time and the hefty prizes that abound in the final month of the season that were lost when lockdown closed down the country. It's more than likely the top end of the Trainers' Championship will look more condensed come September than at any time in living memory, in contrast to a normal season, where summer specialists would be able to advertise their expertise with a rack of winners and a head start against the mid winter owners focused on Grade 1 courses and races.
Since moving to Ogbourne Maizey, the Lavelle string has grown in stature and success, with a Ladbrokes Trophy and a Cleeve and Stayers Hurdle to show for it. Emma and husband Barry have enjoyed their best ever consecutive two seasons since the move, and it was only the truncated season this Spring that didn't better the previous prize money next best in 2013-14. Ogbourne Maizey is enjoying the influx of young blood and enthusiasm behind a team that is making waves in the National Hunt pond.
Tara Niece in the 2m 5f handicap hurdle, Shiroccan Roll, whose fitness paid dividends when getting up close home in the 2m equivalent, and Irish Prophecy, who won going away in the handicap chase, made for a 256/1 treble and an altogether easier trip back up the M5.
Lester Piggott is said to have reported the gallops at Bonita Racing Stables to be the best in the country. Not given to hyperbole at any stage in his career, Piggott's words have some resonance. In truth, the downland around Marlborough, which includes trainers at Barbury, Manton and even Beckhampton slightly further afield, could have been designed around racehorses.
Small wonder that Wiltshire's trademark motif is the white horses etched into the chalk around the Pewsey Vale across to Westbury. This is racing country, make no mistake.
Welcome back to a new Jumps season.
Emma Lavelle isn't one to let the grass grow under her feet, judged from the well-being of her string if today's results from Newton Abbot are anything to go by. The Marlborough trainer maintained her 50% strike record with a treble, punctuated by a second from her other runner at the West Country's first fixture of the belated new season.
Names you might not normally associate with Summer Jumping have kept their strings ticking over during the 100 or so days of racing abstinence, and there's an appetite about to make up for lost time and the hefty prizes that abound in the final month of the season that were lost when lockdown closed down the country. It's more than likely the top end of the Trainers' Championship will look more condensed come September than at any time in living memory, in contrast to a normal season, where summer specialists would be able to advertise their expertise with a rack of winners and a head start against the mid winter owners focused on Grade 1 courses and races.
Since moving to Ogbourne Maizey, the Lavelle string has grown in stature and success, with a Ladbrokes Trophy and a Cleeve and Stayers Hurdle to show for it. Emma and husband Barry have enjoyed their best ever consecutive two seasons since the move, and it was only the truncated season this Spring that didn't better the previous prize money next best in 2013-14. Ogbourne Maizey is enjoying the influx of young blood and enthusiasm behind a team that is making waves in the National Hunt pond.
Tara Niece in the 2m 5f handicap hurdle, Shiroccan Roll, whose fitness paid dividends when getting up close home in the 2m equivalent, and Irish Prophecy, who won going away in the handicap chase, made for a 256/1 treble and an altogether easier trip back up the M5.
Lester Piggott is said to have reported the gallops at Bonita Racing Stables to be the best in the country. Not given to hyperbole at any stage in his career, Piggott's words have some resonance. In truth, the downland around Marlborough, which includes trainers at Barbury, Manton and even Beckhampton slightly further afield, could have been designed around racehorses.
Small wonder that Wiltshire's trademark motif is the white horses etched into the chalk around the Pewsey Vale across to Westbury. This is racing country, make no mistake.
Welcome back to a new Jumps season.
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