Daily Mirror - 30/4/08

Richard Kingscote to make Classic debut

Lambourn trainer Tom Dascombe will have his first runner in a Group
race when he saddles Max One Two Three in the stanjamesuk.com 1000
Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday. And in a rare double first, the filly
will be jockey Richard Kingscote's debut in a Classic.

Happy Birthday Tom

35 Today! good Luck at Ascot this afternoon

Daily Mail - 30th April 2008

Dascombe full of hope for his Classic outsider

By Marcus Townend - More by this author »
Last updated at 22:43pm on 29th April 2008

Lambourn trainer Tom Dascombe should know a few things about talented fillies.

As a one-time assistant to successful South African trainer Mike de Kock, Dascombe was involved in the training of two Group One winning filies in Ipi Tombe, who captured the 2003 Dubai Duty Free, and Crimson Palace, who landed the following year's Beverly D Stakes at Arlington.

Tom Dascombe has come a long way since falling off Pond House in the 1998 Grand National (Comment by Ben: Not correct! Pond House pulled up after a circuit he didn't fall)

That involvement would suggest that Dascombe's decision to throw Max One Two Three into Sunday's Stan James 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket isn't just a fanciful dream by a hopeless optimist.

As short as 25-1 in some books but still avalailable at 40-1, Max One Two Three falls into the outsider category.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/horseracing.html?in_article_id=562893&in_page_id=1967

For the rest of the article please click on the link and it should open up in a new window

The Independent - April 30th 2008

Dascombe tilts at 1,000 Guineas glory

Getty Images

• Trainer Tom Dascombe at Bath races yesterday
  
  By Sue Montgomery
  
  
• Wednesday, 30 April 2008
  

By their very nature, the major contests on the Flat provide fairytale results far less frequently than their counterparts over jumps. Results at the Group One sharp end impact hugely on the bloodstock business that is the raison d'etre for top-level competition and for every Pam Sly there are twenty Aidan O'Briens. Which, really, is as it should be; if money did not reap overall rewards then there would be no investment and the house of cards would collapse.

But the door always remains ajar to the smaller operator. And in the 1,000 Guineas on Sunday, third-season trainer Tom Dascombe will take on the might of the likes of Ballydoyle, Godolphin and Cheveley Park Stud with cheaply-bought, unfashionably-bred Max One Two Three.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/dascombe-tilts-at-1000-guineas-glory-817931.html

For the rest of the story please click on the link

Declarations and Entries w/c 28th April 2008

Today Shiva Adiva runs at Windsor in the 5.40 Fillies Stakes race.

Tomorrow Tuesday 29th April Naughty Thoughts runs in the 4.10 Fillies Handicap Stakes at Bath. 

Wednesday 30th April Firth of Fifth runs in the 2.10 at Ascot. 

Thursday 1st May Prince Desire is entered in the 6.20 Handicap Stakes at Great Leighs and also on Thursday Savile's Delight is entered in the 3.50 Handicap Stakes at Folkestone. 

Saturday 3rd May Savile's Delight is entered in the 2.55 Handicap Stakes at Goodwood. 

Sunday 4th May Max One Two Three runs at Newmarket in the 1000 Guineas at 3.10.

Declarations and entries w/c 21st April 2008

Savile's Delight runs today at Windsor in the 5.25 Apprentice Handicap Stakes race over six furlongs.

Gross Prophet runs tomorrow at Kempton in the 4.45 seven furlong Handicap Stakes.

On Thursday 24th Rowan River is entered at Beverley in the 3.45 Fillies' Handicap Stakes race and also on Thursday Savile's Delight and Desert Dreamer are both entered at Southwell in the 6.05 Claimer Stakes race over six furlongs.

Classic Blade is entered on Saturday 26th at Leicester in the 2.15 Median Auction Maiden Stakes.

Old Father Zieten is entered on Sunday 27th at Brighton in the 2.10 Maiden Stakes over five furlongs.

Declarations and entries w/c 14 April 2008

Savile's Delight runs this afternoon at Windsor at 5.00pm.

On Thursday Firth of Fifth is entered in a maiden at Kempton Park at 7.50 pm.

On Friday Clifton Dancer is entered at Newbury in the 2.10 pm over 7 furlongs but needs seven horses to come out to get a run. True And Fair is entered in the 4.25 pm on the same card also over 7 furlongs. She needs just three to come out.

At The Races

This morning Tom was a guest of Matt Chapman on ATR's Racing Forum. He had a horrible journey to the studio at Old Street because the Sunday train service from Hungerford to Paddington was non existent and he was worried about the affect of the London Marathon on the traffic in central London. So having lost time waiting on the platform in Hungerford he ended up driving to Hammersmith and getting the tube through to the City. Having planned to arrive with over an hour in hand, enough time to compose himself, he only arrived with minutes to spare.

Whilst Matt was generally very kind to him he did ask a number of searching questions about Tom's attitude to various issues like the level of prize money, the 'cleanliness' of the sport, the fairness of Tony Dobbin's last winner on Thursday and asked Tom to identify a sure-fire winner in 2008. He named Flying River, the 2yo he bought for his staff to share, as the most certain one to find its way to the winner's enclosure.

It was great to see clips of Tom's race riding days including winning rides on Caracol and Oliver Cromwell. Tom paid tribute to Martin Pipe for the skills, experience and training he gained whilst at Pond House and said that he had no intention of taking up training himself until he worked with Mike De Kock in Dubai and was hugely motivated to take up training by the quality of horses Mike had under his care.

Grant Thornton Racing Club members on Mandown gallops Saturday 12 April 2008

 

About 30 members and their family and friends came to the yard on Saturday and to the Mandown gallops to see the Club horses True And Fair and Onemoreandstay have a canter. Some members came from as far as Leeds but others lived more locally including in Lambourn. Tom gave a conducted tour of the yard describing each of the horses, especially the 22 2yo's which most of the Club members had not seen before, and decribed his ambitions and hopes for the season ahead.

Grant Thornton Racing Club

We have a gallop morning organised for Saturday 12 April 2008 starting at 9.30 am when club members will meet at the yard and then proceed to Mandown to see True And Fair do a piece of work. We are hoping that this 3yo filly will make her debut on the racecourse on Friday 18 April at Newbury.

If you have any interest in joining Grant Thornton Racing Club please contact me (Bill Dascombe) on my mobile 07768 464430. Details about the club can be found on the website.

Breeze - Up Sales at Doncaster 9 to 10 April 2008

I shall be at Doncaster on Wednesday and Thursday for the breeze-ups. There are 170 lots catalogued and they breeze from 10.30 am on Wednesday and go through the ring on Thursday from 11.00 am. If anyone wants me to purchase a nice 2yo for them they should give me a call on my mobile.

Declarations and entries w/c 7 April 2008

Rowan River is declared for a mile fillies handicap at Kempton on Thursday at 9.20 pm. This will be her first run for me as the Yarmouth meeting was abandoned.

On Friday I have two entries at Doncaster; Naughty Thoughts at 3.50 pm and Desert Dreamer back in claiming company at 5.00 pm.

Gross Prophet is entered at Kempton on Saturday at 5.05 pm.

Desert Dreamer is our tenth winner

Our good friend Desert Dreamer won easily at Kempton on Wednesday to make it 10 winners from 23 runners so far in 2008.

He runs again tomorrow at Lingfield under a 6lb penalty in a much better race, a class 3 handicap worth £10,000. He seems to have come out of the race on Wednesday OK so I thought he deserved to be given a chance.

Firth of Fifth will be our first 2yo runner of the year on the same card and he is one of the few in the race not to have had a previous run. It is always an anxious time running the first 2yo and I remember how disappointed I felt last year after my first 2yo runner came in way down the field but in time they came good. I am particularly pleased that tomorrow Firth of Fifth runs in the race as the race is run in memory of the parents of Firth of Fifth's owner Dan Perchard.

Cutting comments about Lambourn's heads of state

So ran the headline to the Dikler's column in Wednesday's Racing Post. He was talking about The Gentleman's Shop in Hungerford where hairdresser Cara Dinham was commenting on the hair and style (or lack of it) of some of her trainer customers.

Apparently Clive Cox's choice of hairstyle owes a lot to fellow trainer Tom Dascombe.
"Tom was late for an appointment once", Cara explains " and I told him I couldn't cut his hair because of the next customer's appointment. He asked me to do whatever was quickest, so I shaved it all off. He hasn't been back recently."

Declarations and Entries w/c 31st March 2008

Desert Dreamer is entered in another claimer at Kempton Park today at 6.50 pm and is entered again on Saturday 5th April at Lingfield in a seven furlong Handicap Stakes at 2.10.

Firth of Fifth is entered on Saturday 5th April in a five furlong Maiden Auction Stakes at Lingfield at 3.55.

Naughty Thoughts 5.05 pm at Folkestone

The Racing Post's verdict is:

Tom Dascombe has quickly made a name for himself and he could have made a shrewd purchase in Naughty Thoughts (nap) who is bred to be fully effective over this trip and made a good start for him at Wolverhampton last time.