Taunton – 30th December 2019 - Brain Tumour Research Handicap Chase

Taunton – 30th December 2019 – Brain Tumour Research Handicap Chase

There were five BG Racing representatives at the course, with Phil travelling down with Ewart Lister and being joined by the more local Shaun Taylor, Nick Meredith and Susie Panikkar. Andy Yarde was also at the course, but he was out working on the track and only able to join us after the last race.

Taunton is only a small course just outside the town and there was a huge crowd for this holiday fixture. This made viewing (especially the far side of the course) quite difficult and we ended up watching most of the races on the big screens! The low sun was also a factor and resulted in fences being omitted on the far side of the course. We were not sure how this would affect Mount Oliver in his race, but it turned out to be no issue.

Our race was at 2.55 pm, so after watching the earlier action, we headed to the saddling area to meet Neil. Mount Oliver was a little on edge but looked reasonably fit and ready to run. He also got a little warm in the preliminaries, but this was understandable after having such a long time away from the course.

On moving to the paddock, we were joined by Tom Scudamore who was riding for us yesterday. Mount Oliver had had some success in the past when following the leaders, but Neil felt that Tom should ride Mount Oliver conservatively as there was a significant risk that if ridden prominently he may tire significantly in the latter stages.

As a result of the low sun, the three fences down the far side were omitted. This left just the three fences in the home straight which were taken three times each, over the course of the race. This meant that there was a long run to the first fence to be jumped and Tom settled Mount Oliver at the back of the field in about second or third last. He seemed to be travelling well down the back and whilst he did not jump particularly cleanly, especially at the third fence where he was quite low, he was safe enough. Down the back straight for the second time, Tom was still travelling well and with a circuit to go, he moved forward slightly so that Mount Oliver could get closer to the leaders.

Several jockeys started to look more animated as the horses left the back straight for the last time, but encouragingly for us, Tom was not one of them and Mount Oliver seemed to still be going okay. Turning for home was where Olly finally started to tire and with the leader pressing on, Tom was happy to look after him down the home straight to ensure that he finished safely. Despite this, he still plugged on gamely and finished in seventh position only beaten in a photo for sixth.

When Tom returned to the unsaddling area, he was absolutely delighted with the run. He reported that Mount Oliver had carried him through the race really well and had only tired towards the finish. He was delighted at how well Mount Oliver had travelled on the ground as he had been concerned that Olly might need the really heavy ground that had prevailed during his win at Fontwell for him to show his best.

It was an excellent debut for Mount Oliver, he ran probably as well as we could have hoped that he would after having had such a long break and we have loads to look forward to with him in the coming weeks and months as this was a brilliant start.