First of all, apologies for not writing a blog for a few weeks. When i started the blog, i had intentions of a weekly blog but we’ve been so busy on the yard (and a gigaclear network failure), i’m afraid the blog went on the back burner!
Anyway, a fantastic end to the season this has been for national hunt fans. Cheltenham was unpredictable but absolutely fantastic, and aintree was an incredible few days of top racing. The season is concluding and bubbling up a great title race for the trainers championship and hopefully Skelton can hold on for 1 more week! The force of Mullins is utterly desirable and the firepower he holds in his stable is unbelievable. I do feel for Skelton after having a phenomenal season to potentially have it taken away in the final strides. David and Goliath of the national hunt world… on Monday it all starts again!
We’ve had a great run of things the past few weeks.
Since our last blog, we’ve had plenty of runners and i’ll touch on a few of them.
Au Fleuron and Aimee Jones had a great spin around the cheltenham Foxhunters. Au Fleuron was an outsider with no expectations, but he looked after Aimee on the biggest stage and a great day was had by all. A huge experience for Aimee and her family she wont forget in a hurry.
Rockadenn stepped up in trip at Southwell to finish a good 2nd over 3 miles on better ground. He travelled, jumped and looked like he will be winning races soon.
Goodbye Mick and Pretty Punctual ran in the same race at Stratford. Goodbye Mick ran well and Pretty Punctual looked like she will benefit from a short break.
Kaproyale ran on the same card under Liam Harrison. Kaproyale is usually James Kings ride but unfortunately the race clashed with james pointing rides so Liam took over. He looked like the winner coming to 2 out but didn’t quite get home and had a nasty cut after the race which will take some time to get right and would probably answer why he didnt see out the trip. He is on the mend and will be a lot of fun this summer.
Land Girl’s Luck finally got her head in front and broke her maiden tag at Sedgefield under a tremendous front running ride by David Bass. He took the race by the scruff and won by 8 lengths. She’s always threatened to win races but has always been the bridesmaid. A consistent mare, a character to train, and she deserved her day in the sun. A great day for owner Richard Bailey.
Wearapinkribbon was a disapointing favourite at Huntingdon and will now be retired to find a nice home as a riding horse. He won on his first start for the yard, but is falling out of love with racing but he will certainly have a second career. We spend a lot of time ensuring any horse leaving our care gets the best home possible and we keep a close eye on their progress after their racing days.
Catwalk Girl also won on yard debut at Edgecote Point to Point last week. She made all, travelled and jumped for fun under James King and will now look to qualify for the jockey clubs mares bonus.
And finally, easter weekend was a good one!
We headed up to Higham on Friday with Gallant Geronimo for Aimee Jones and Alison Sargeant. GG is a 9yo maiden and new to us this season. We aimed to run him at Cotley 3 weeks ago but the meeting was cancelled once we arrived but Higham looked a suitable alternative. He jumped like a bunny and travelled strongly to break his maiden tag on his second run for the yard. Brilliant to get a winner for Alison and Aimee with a horse they’ve been so patient with.
Lady Fortune headed to Huntingdon on Saturday. She looked to be creeping into the race until she knocked herself turning in and Nick Slatter sensibly pulled her up sharply. She was checked over by the vets and apart from a hematoma and some bruising, she will be okay. She’s a lovely mare but we will go back to the drawing board with her to find a suitable race once shes 100%.
Market Rasen on Easter Sunday. Huge crowd and lovely weather. Just Her Type was running a good race under Tom Broughton. She jumped and looked to have everything under pressure turning in. She flew 2 out and landed running but a bad jump at the last left us 2nd in yet another photo finish. Frustrating. JHT deserves to win a race… 5 runs, 3 seconds and 2 photo finishes. She will go on a holiday now and be a exciting mare for next season. Shes a chaser in the making.
A quiet week ahead.
Aureus makes his hurdling debut at Warwick on Thursday before the season finale and a jumps racing break for… 5 days! Then it all starts again
On the point to point side, Jullou De Grissay comes back from a break to run a Parham on Saturday. James King rides.
In other news, our local point to point at Paxford had a huge crowd and good racing yesterday. Small fields but competitive racing which is more than can be said for the northern p2p scene. Corbridge abandoned after a couple of races due to no runners. A sad state but hopefully new CEO, Paul Miller can be pro active to ensure the future of grassroots racing is bright and horse numbers can go up… I cant imagine a paying member of the public will be in a rush to go point to pointing at Corbridge next season. Worrying and something must be done and im sure Paul Miller is already on the case.
Finally, David Bass and I visited ireland last week looking at some stunning horses. We’ve got a few which we would like to find owners for so please get in touch if you would like more details to have a horse in training here. I visit ireland regularly to view horses and try to find the next superstar with a slightly out of the box approach. It is very easy to put your hand up at the sales, but the competition is fierce and prices are usually very expensive for the calibre of horse in my opinion. Viewing them at their stables and David riding is a much better way to get a true representation of the horses on the market and perhaps some value away from the fashionable boutique auctions.
Have a great week and i will be back to upload a blog next week.
Max