Frustrating weekend had some positives

It was a bit of a frustrating weekend in one sense. We sent Harchibald over to Newcastle for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle on Saturday, but the meeting was abandoned due to the weather conditions and it turned out to be a wasted trip for everyone. The horse travelled over on Wednesday with Tom Taaffe who had Finger On The Pulse in the handicap chase with Barry Geraghty due to ride. The two horses travelled together, but they were back on the 4.30 Stranraer - Larne ferry on Saturday evening. We were lucky in one respect, I suppose, in that Paul Carberry and the rest of the team didn"t actually get there at all. They were just about to board the flight at Dublin airport on Saturday morning when we got confirmation that the meeting would not go ahead. I had been in contact with the clerk of the course at Newcastle, they were delaying a decision as long as possible and I spoke to him before 9am and explained about the flight. The Newcastle officials were very helpful and they did everything possible to race, but it just wasn"t feasible. I managed to get the word to Paul before he travelled and he was able to make it to Fairyhouse. It now looks like we will all be off to Wetherby on Saturday instead, but I will have to get a bit of work into Harchibald this week if he is to make the trip again. The ground, once again, will be the deciding factor, but we might delay the travel plans until Thursday this time around. Wetherby would be a similar trip as Cheltenham, and the horses get used to travelling anyway. Harchibald seems to be in fine form after last weekend, but we couldn"t do a lot on Monday morning with any of them due to the frost, so we got them out in the afternoon. He"s in a race at Dundalk on Friday night, but if he doesn"t go to Wetherby on Saturday he may go for the Bula Hurdle at Cheltenham the following week. At the moment Wetherby is good to soft and they"re expecting a dry week, I spoke to Lorcan Wyer on Monday and he said it was quite a dry track, so if all goes well, we will see Harchibald on Saturday. Loracn rode for Peter Easterby for years and would know the track at Wetherby very well. Apart from Harchibald, we actually had some runners at the weekend and I was very pleased that Bridge Run won a novice chase at Fairyhouse on Saturday with Paul on board. Judge Deed finished fourth in the same race and I was pleased with him also. Nina Carberry rode him and he jumped great for her. I suppose I was expecting big things from both those horses and they might now only be coming back to their best form. Bridge Run lost his way a bit after a fall at Limerick last Christmas, but now that he has won he could be a force in some of the bigger chases this season. I was impressed with Donnas Palm in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse on Sunday although he didn"t win. A stronger gallop would have helped us a little, he jumped well and Barry Geraghty maintained that he would have won in another 50 yards. It was only his second run over hurdles. Fisher Bridge was in the same race and came out of it a little stiff, but it was a peculiar race and it really turned into a four-furlong sprint, which didn"t suit us. Casey Jones was never travelling in the Drinmore Chase and Paul felt he wasn"t right, that"s why he pulled up, but so far we haven"t found anything wrong and it was bit puzzling because he was in great form for the race and we expected a better run. Island Life also pulled up, but he got a 15-pound penalty for his win at Thurles which I felt was a bit hefty and it put him into a higher class. It was only a week after his last win and the race may have come too soon for him? Aitmatov ran well in the Hatton"s Grace Hurlde, he is a better horse on better ground, but I"m not sure whether to run him over a shorter or a longer trip. It is very difficult to get him fit, but I"m sure he will improve, if he doesn"t go in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan on Sunday week, he will be aimed at a Leopardstown hurdle over Christmas. I was also pleased with Muirhead as it was his first run since Cheltenham last March and it was only his second run since the same Fairyhouse race last year, and what"s more, it was only his fourth race over hurdles. Had he been running in an ordinary type of race he would have won, but he was up against some top class opposition. He made a mistake at the second last which cost him third place. He has the class to go anywhere if everything goes right for him. I ran Quempton in the bumper and he was fourth, but I"m not convinced that he is a bumper horse and he won"t run in another one. He was fourth in a maiden hurdle first time out and on Sunday at Fairyhouse he sort of flattened out when he turned into the home straight. He will go jumping, he is a completely different horse over jumps. Gordon Elliott"s horse was very impressive in the first race, Tharawaat, we beat him at Down Royal last October with The Fist Of God, but I"m not too sure we would do it again. I was actually hoping to buy Tharawaat at the Newmarket July sales, he was sold out of Barry Hills yard, but Michael O"Leary wanted him and was prepared to pay for him. That"s they way it goes, but Gordon definitely has a genuine prospect for some of the big four-year-old races in 2009. The news about Aran Concerto is that he didn"t show me his best form last week and we weren"t prepared to take any chances with him, it could be a fortnight before you see him again. I also heard that Paul was involved in some sort of a charity boxing bout with David Casey, I"m looking forward to seeing that. Paul maintained that he was in control, but if I was looking for a boxer, I would be turning to Paul. I think 'Slippers" (Niall Madden) might be a better option, he would be a hardier type of fellow in the ring, but he may be leaving us as I think he is moving to 'Mouse" Morris as first jockey. This weekend I hope to run Corskeagh Royale in a maiden hurdle at Navan on Saturday, but Zaarito is also in the same race and I would prefer to avoid him. Sigma Digital could go for a novice chase and Hector"s horse, Steve Capall is in a novice hurdle, but it might be too hot for him. Watson Lake is entered for Punchestown on Sunday, but there could be an easier target for him at Cork the following week. Visit Noel Meade"s website: www.noelmeade.com