The yearling sales may be in full flow but there is a distinct whiff of jumps season in the air now as autumn rolls on and Pioneer Pete continued an excellent early start to his season by winning the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Chepstow on Friday.
The six-year-old son of Frontiersman has in fact been a model of consistency all year, winning a maiden hurdle at Wetherby in March by 16 lengths before being beaten a short-head at the Punchestown Festival and winning again at Worcester and Stratford in June and September.
Bred by York’s raceday clerk of the course Anthea Morshead, he has a strong Overbury feel to his pedigree as Pioneer Pete is the first foal of the winning point-to-pointer Premier Blanc, by Kayf Tara, who was trained by Anthea to win in the colours of her husband Lord Leigh.
Over in Ireland, Ash Hobbs, a five-year-old daughter of Jack Hobbs, notched her first win for Henry de Bromhead having been bought for £170,000 by Mags O’Toole for Robcour after winning her point-to-point debut in March 2025.
There is still plenty of Flat action to be enjoyed this season and Ardad continues to knock in the winners, with his trio this week including the juvenile Soeur De Flash, who won a Kenton nursery on Friday for Clive Cox after finishing placed in all three of her stars prior to that.
