THE weather makes the headlines this week and to date at Pond House we have had 176mm of rain in January and with a wet week ahead forecast there looks set to be disruption to the racing programme in the coming days, and Exeter on Wednesday has already been abandoned.

The most rain we have ever recorded here in January is 181mm and that was back in 2014, so I imagine we will be setting a new record this year, with a few more days left in the month as well!

Our runners have gone well in recent days and I was delighted to get another couple of winners thanks to River Run Free and Eton Mes.

River Run Free is not the easiest horse to keep right at home but he has ability. He is a horse that lives out in the field as much as possible and gets plenty of TLC so it is always extra special when the hard work pays off. He is now two wins from three runs at Leicester and he does seem to enjoy the track.

He jumped and travelled very well throughout for Jack Tudor and he scored quite comfortably in the end. He has come out of that race well and while we did have him entered back at Leicester later this week we have decided to wait for another day.

Eton Mes won for the first time over hurdles at Uttoxeter on Friday with Rian Corcoran in the saddle. After finishing fourth three times in a row in novice events, this was his first run in a handicap and carrying top weight with seven pounds off thanks to Rian’s claim he won nicely.

He loves soft ground and will probably appreciate an even stiffer test of stamina in time but this was a good first victory. He has come out of the race well and has further entries this week but we will see what the handicapper does on Tuesday morning before deciding on plans.

Bashful Boy did not get the run of the race in his flat race at Kempton and finished fourth while the race probably came soon enough after Taunton for Jaipaletemps at Uttoxeter on Saturday and he also finished fourth.

A lot of what happens this week will depend on the rain and what racing is on or off! I imagine that if we do have some abandonments there will be extra meetings put on at some of the drier courses. The west country and the South seems to have been worst affected lately; indeed we were at Cocklbarrow point to point on Sunday in Gloucestershire and the sun was shining and the ground was just on the softer side of good! We returned home to wet and miserable weather!

We have two runners at Chepstow on Tuesday, Saccary and Walkadina with Jack Tudor on board both and then Wednesday will be a blank day.

Later in the week we have entries at Wincanton on Thursday and on Friday at Ffos Las, then on the flat at Southwell. This is followed by a big weekend at Musselburgh, Sandown, Wetherby and Market Rasen, so keep checking the Daily News on the website for all the latest news on the stable runners.

David Pipe was talking to racing correspondent Richard Walsh.