Hope tops the table, but whatever happened to Colm?

With two months of the year remaining, Chopchop Hope has returned to lead the GBGB open race table with 18 victories. Droopys Perfect, who hasn’t raced since beaten at Central Park in mid-October.

For the first six months of the year, the chart was dominated by Sheffield’s Ballycowen Colm. Lisa Stephenson’s white and black hasn’t raced since August 14 but remains in joint third place on the table with 14 wins.

Lisa said: “He was hurt in his last race when he went under the curtain at the pick-up. He spiked himself but he also picked up a slight hock strain. He is getting on a bit (Apr 14) and doesn’t owe us a penny, so I haven’t really decided whether to bring him back to the track or not.

“I’ll give him another couple of weeks off and then gallop him before making a decision. If he doesn’t come back, he’ll be retired with me, or with someone I know. He could go into the homefinding scheme but I would rather know where he was. He isn’t a superstar but he is very popular at Sheffield and it is nice to see him getting some recognition.”