BASHFUL Boy ran well again on the all-weather last week to be third at Wolverhampton. The race was probably not run to suit as they went quite slowly and turned it into a bit of a sprint and although initially outpaced he stuck on well to the line and was not beaten that far.

A return to Kempton or Southwell will see him in a better light and he deserves to get his head in front soon.

On Thursday, there was an extra meeting put on at Ffos Las as a result of recent abandonments and we capitalised on this with a win from Itseemslikeit who made it two from two over fences this season.

He is very lightly raced but he is only a seven-year-old and because of his size this will have done him no harm at all. He won this race off a mark of 120 and we will see what the handicapper does to him on Tuesday but I hope there is still room for improvement off of his new rating. Staying handicap chases on soft ground are his ideal and long distance staying chases and regional nationals are a likely stepping stone as he continues to progress.

Pachacuti returned to form with a pleasing second at Ffos Las as well. This was back over hurdles which he seemed to enjoy and so we will stick to that for now and hope he can build on that next time.

On the same day, American Sniper ran his usual honest race to be fourth at Taunton while Best Night had her best race for a while to be second in the mare’s hurdle for Rian Corcoran. At Exeter on Friday, Eton Mes finished fourth for the third time in a row in the novice’s hurdle and now qualifies for a rating. Royal Mer ran another solid race to be a close second in the 2m1f chase.

Our first runner of this week will actually be in Scotland on Tuesday! Bras D’or travelled up to Ayr on Monday and stayed overnight to run in the novice’s hurdle on their card over two miles and Jack Tudor rides.

On Tuesday, we head to Newbury with two runners, Harley’s Pride and Gold in The Rivers,and Jack Tudor partners both. Harley’s Pride looks up against it in a tough race but this will qualify her for a handicap mark. Gold in the Rivers has run well in two chase starts so far this season and this will be his first run since wind surgery.

On Thursday, we could be represented at three meetings with entries at Ludlow, Newcastle and Wincanton while on Friday we are likely to be at Windsor and Market Rasen.

Red Wine Supernova is an intended runner in the Listed mares bumper at the latter. It will be competitive but our mare shows a great attitude and I am looking forward to seeing her step up in grade. Gericault Roque has entries in two races at Windsor and will run in one of these.

On Saturday, we have entries at Ascot, Haydock, Taunton and at Southwell on the all-weather while on Sunday we could be at Fakenham and Windsor, so keep checking the Daily News on the website for all the latest news on the stable runners.

David Pipe was talking to Richard Walsh.