Dave And Bernie (Ire)

Oliver purchased Dave And Bernie (‘Dave’) from the Goff’s September Sale last year for £34,000. We really liked his compact, strong frame and his bold, fluid walk. He is not a huge horse but has plenty of presence and attitude. He ran for the first time in England in October at Ludlow, over 2 miles in a 0-115 handicap hurdle, with Tom O’Brien onboard which he won. His second outing at Taunton was frustrating, with all but 2 of the hurdles removed due to low sun. It changed the race hugely and ‘Dave’ who loves his jumping was not interested or engaged in the flat race that it became in his first 0-125 race. He took a while to turn

around after this run, with intermittent lameness. He’s a really tough horse so it wasn’t obvious at the issue was for a while but eventually he was diagnosed with a bruised foot. He had a quiet time whilst this healed up but kept swimming to keep a base level of fitness. He is now back in good form and had a first run back at Fakenham on March 19^th, which freshened him back up ready for the spring ground.

He ran well at Fontwell at the end of March, finishing second with Gavin Sheehan onboard. He backed this up with a gutsy second place at Warwick at the start of May, running through the line on ground that was slightly softer than ideal with the very wet conditions.

Dave And Bernie is a really fun young horse, that should give the racing club members plenty of interest this season. He’s got bags of attitude and despite being endlessly naughty is very likable! We believe he is a classy horse and will school him up over fences to give him the option of chasing.

“A good fun, genuine horse who made all in his run here and Ireland – he has the potential to step up in trip & over fences”
Tom O’Brien