Few of the yards with runners in Catterick’s concluding event on Monday, a bumper, have saddled a winner in this category during the last five years. One who has is the Borders-based trainer Harriet Graham. Graham is a former point-to-point rider in Devon, who took out her full trainer’s licence in 2004 and has built a remarkably high strike-rate in the past few years.
This season she has had four winners from 15 runners, a significant ratio for such a small yard. “In recent years we have been trying to be more focused, thanks to the fact we now have more nice horses in the yard,” Graham said on Sunday. “We are also lucky that our owners know it is worth being patient.”
Graham saddled Aye Right, a 20-1 winner of a Carlisle bumper in November. On Monday at Catterick, she runs Justadreamyeken (4.35) but did not appear to be brimming with enthusiasm over this six-year-old’s prospects on his debut. “We’ll be interested to see how he gets on,” she said of the 16-1 shot, who opened at 33-1 on Sunday evening. Justadreamyeken has an interesting pedigree, by Scorpion out of a mare, Loxhill Lady, whose few progeny have included Zulu Oscar, a dual bumper winner who took six races in total.
Earlier on the same card, Sharp Response (3.05) looks a likely winner at 13-8 if regular front-running tactics are employed. Elsewhere on Monday, market support for Two Hoots (3.50) at Plumpton would be interesting. This seven-year-old finished nearly 20 lengths behind Le Coeur Net at this track a fortnight ago. The pair re-oppose and, despite a pull in the weights now, Two Hoots has plenty on his plate in an attempt to reverse the form. That was Two Hoots’ chase debut, however, and only his second run since being switched from Paul Nicholls to Jeremy Scott. Things could be a lot closer this time. He’s 9-1.
Fergal O'Brien 50% (12)
Dr Richard Newland 40% (5)
Colin Tizzard 27% (30)
Nicky Henderson 25% (32)
Nigel Twiston-Davies 25% (24)
Sue Smith 25% (12)
Nick Williams 25% (8)
Paul Nicholls 21% (39)
Alan King 21% (28)
Warren Greatrex 21% (24)
Ben Pauling 21% (24)
Gary Moore 20% (25)
Charlie Longsdon 20% (20)
Emma Lavelle 20% (10)
Nicky Richards 20% (10)
Kim Bailey 19% (16)
Kerry Lee 19% (16)
Lucinda Russell 18% (22)
Tom George 18% (17)
Donald McCain 16% (19)
Neil Mulholland 14% (29)
Oliver Sherwood 11% (19)
Philip Hobbs 11% (18)
Ian Williams 10% (20)
Dan Skelton 9% (35)
Evan Williams 9% (35)
Harry Fry 7% (15)
Jonjo O'Neill 6% (17)
David Pipe 5% (20)
Venetia Williams 0% (20)
Brian Ellison 0% (14)
Tim Vaughan 0% (12)
Peter Bowen 0% (6)
Malcolm / Ruth Jefferson 0% (6)
Rebecca Curtis 0% (3)
Some yards that have been ailing since the beginning of the year have really bounced back in the past 10 days or so, notably that of Fergal O'Brien, a winner with half of his most recent 12 runners. Two of those six wins came in handicap chases, which are not easy to win.
O'Brien's Gloucestershire neighbour, Nigel Twiston-Davies, also seems to be over whatever was slowing him down in January. His recent winners include a Grade Two with Ballyoptic and no fewer than four handicaps, one with a horse that had previously been running for Rebecca Curtis.
Having gone seven weeks without a winner, Ben Pauling has now had five in the past week, albeit all were at short prices in novice or maiden contests. Colin Tizzard is also back, with eight winners in the past fortnight, including an Exeter treble yesterday.
It's probably also worth noting that, from a small sample, Richard Newland's horses have been doing well. But Dan Skelton and Harry Fry are not doing so well as we have come to expect from them and Philip Hobbs has still not recovered his usual form.
Each Monday through the core jumps season, we’re monitoring the relative success of 35 major jumps stables. The percentage figure is their win strike-rate for the last fortnight, while their total number of runners in that time is in brackets.
Catterick 2.00 Jaunty Flyer 2.35 The Dawn Man 3.05 Sharp Response (nap) 3.35 Monfass 4.05 Boric 4.35 Justadreamyeken
Plumpton 2.15 Diva Du Maquis 2.50 San Pedro De Senam 3.20 Theydon Park 3.50 Two Hoots (nb) 4.20 Cheque En Blanc 4.50 Drewmain Legend
Wolverhampton 5.10 Crown Walk 5.40 Orchid Lily 6.10 Star Archer 6.40 Haines 7.10 Camino 7.40 Sir Harry Collins 8.10 Kreb’s Cycle 8.40 Sheer Intensity
