Aidan Coleman
Aidan - Frustrated by the weather
3 February 2012
It’s been a bit of a frustrating week so far and it looks as though it might continue in the same vein.
I didn’t have any rides on Sunday or Monday. Things started to look up a bit on Tuesday when I had a winner and a second at Taunton, and then should have been at Ludlow on Wednesday, Wincanton on Thursday and Chepstow today, but all have been lost to the freezing temperatures.
Now we have to keep our fingers crossed and see what happens overnight at Ffos Las.
I’m due to go there tomorrow to ride Jaunty Journey for Nigel Twiston-Davies in the William Hill Wales National.
I haven’t ridden him before but he’s a horse I’d look forward to getting to know and it’s always nice to be put up by one of the top yards. Looking at the weather forecast though, I don’t think I’ll get the chance this time around.
It will be a disappointment if the meeting is abandoned, but I suppose we’ve had a pretty good run so far this season, especially when you consider that we lost nearly a month of jumps racing around this time last year.
Obviously with Cheltenham just round the corner there’s plenty to look forward to including Newbury next Saturday where Venetia has entered Ciceron in the Betfair Hurdle. He won a decent handicap at Sandown last month but could only finish fifth on his next outing at Ascot. I was Haydock that day and Sam Thomas rode him.
He didn’t get the two and a half miles at Ascot and he’ll benefit from the shorter trip, especially at Newbury. He’s a horse who needs to be dropped out a bit and produced late, so a good galloping track like Newbury should suit him well.
I am looking forward to riding him and, hopefully, the weather will pick up and I can get a good few rides in before then.
As expected Mon Mome was among the 82 entries for the John Smith’s Grand National announced earlier this week.
The weights come out on Valentines Day and we’ll find out then how much the handicapper loves Ballabriggs. With the likes of Neptune Collonges in there, who could easily have top weight on the official figures, it will be interesting to see just how much the Aintree factor comes into play.
Neither will bother me much though, I’ll be more interested in seeing that Mon Mome gets a decent weight. He didn’t like the ground at Haydock last time but he knows Aintree and how to win there so I’ll be looking forward to a good show from him.
Plenty more racing to come before then, it just might not be this weekend!
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