One of the things I most enjoy
about the racedays is the interesting people I meet, week after week, both involved
directly with the racing and also those visiting the course to enjoy a day out.
Last week I had the pleasure of
talking to David Weston, a trainer from West Overton near Marlborough, following
the win of his four-year old filly, Solstalla in the mare’s maiden hurdle. Weston’s breeding and training operation is
very much a family affair which includes his partner and owner of Solstalla, El
Tanner and their children. His national
hunt horses, in the main, are ridden by Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey,
Nico De Boinville, who Weston has known since he was 16.
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| Solstalla, ridden by Nico De Boinville with trainer David Weston |
Weston has an impressive strike
rate at Worcester. Four of the six
horses he has run at the track have won.
Solstalla, who is by Halling out
of a mare called Solstice, started her career on the flat and her last win came
at Goodwood in 2015 as a three-year old.
The filly first ran at Pitchcroft on Pershore Plum Festival raceday in
July when she came second, a run she followed up with a further second at
Fontwell in August.
Another horse Weston has run at
Worcester is the homebred, At First Light.
The mare was ridden by De Boinville to win three times from three runs
at the course last summer. Last week she
had her first run of the season at Uttoxeter where she stayed on well to come
second to Tim Vaughan’s Dovil’s Date.
The ‘banker’ of last week’s meeting
was Vintage Vinnie who was having his first run of the season, back over
hurdles. The son of Vinnie Roe won on
the bridle by 16 lengths and obviously goes well fresh because he also started
his 2015 season with a win at Worcester last September under Leighton Aspel.
Vintage Vinnie is trained on the
coast near Newport by Rebecca Curtis, who has a 25% strike rate for the horses
she sends to Worcester. The gelding’s form
last season included a second in the Skybet Chase at Doncaster in January under
Barry Geraghty.
With Richard Johnson riding at
Perth last week, a win in the opening novice chase gave Aidan Coleman
sufficient points to take the lead in the Worcester jockey table by 10 points
from Sam Twiston-Davies and Richard Johnson.
The lads are fiercely competitive and they will be going all out at the
final three meetings of the season to secure the top honours.
Dan Skelton has overtaken Nicky
Henderson to take the second spot in the trainer’s table this week behind
Philip Hobbs, thanks to a second place for his recent Worcester winning mare,
Stephanie Frances in the opening novice chase.
More stories are sure to come
from the race meeting at Worcester today, when the first race is due off at
2.10pm and the gates open at 12.10pm.
