Two new faces

Newmarket has been a lively place this week as the annual end of season sales at Tattersalls auction house got under way. Unlike the January clothes sales that you would be familiar with, this horse sale unfortunately didn't see many discounts as some of the best racehorses in the country went under the hammer.Despite the high prices, I didn't come away empty handed and managed to pick up two very nice fillies.

The first is called Sail Home (left). She was from the Juddmonte consignment and was previously trained in France. She has has three respectable maiden runs and now has a handicap mark. Her stroy so far is indentical to the one of Spruce, a horse we bought last year and then he won four races in a row for us. It is hard to imagine that she is a fily because she has really big shoulders and backend. She is for sale as a whole at £5000 or in 12th shares. There's more info on my website or just get in touch with me if you are interested.

The second filly I bought is called Entrance (right). She is from Ed Dunlop's yard and my contacts there suggested she would be a great value for money buy. She only ran last Saturday so is super-fit and I'm looking to run her in the middle of November. She is the replacement for Marafong in the Hoofbeats Racing Club and a 20th share will be £1200 which is a one-off payment for the year as it includes all the training fees. She looks the right type to be busy and successful over the winter.

Although another horse (Sancho Panza) joined the winter holiday list this week due to a lack of opportunities for him in the coming months, I've still got loads to run in the coming days. Baggsy goes back over hurdles tomorrow at Plumpton and if she can build on her debut over obstacles, I hope that she is in with a squeak (and somebody will claim her!).

On Wednesday, Ocean Rosie goes to Kempton and King Columbo to Nottingham. They've both proven that thwey have ability but they both seem to be a bit off the boil at the monute. It wouldn't surprise me though if one of them came home with a place.

I'm looking forward to Blackmore the following day though. He has had three runs in maidens and the handicapper has given him a really competitive mark of 60. The race doesn't look particularly strong and he galloped impressively yesterday morning. He has shown signs of temperament at the racecourse but he seems to be a lot more straightforward nowadays and I think he has a great chance.

The same applies to Khajaaly at Wolverhampton on Friday night. We've given him a short break and he is a completely different horse. The last two days, his rider on the gallops has struggled to hold him in a canter and he wasn't like that before. The holiday has renewd his enthuisiasm for the game and I hope it refelcts in his performance on the racecourse.

Beseech will be accompanying Khajaaly to Dunstall Park and she's just having her third run to qualify for handicaps and then she will do a lot better.