New faces on the block

The Horses in Training Sale came and went this week and we had a bit of luck purchasing 2 promising horses for next year. Silver Alliance was bought out of the clearing out sale of Walter Swinburn's yard and with already 2 wins in his career he is sure to make waves for his new stable. Attain (pictured below) was an interesting buy as he is from Juddemonte Farms where we have had significant success buying out of over the years, the likes of Night Orbit, Rapid City, Bavarica and lots more have all had illustrious careers so hopefully this smart 2 year old colt by Dansili can join the list. Shares are available at £1,500 per 10th share and a monthly all inclusive fee of £180. His dam Achieve has bred three individual winners and he is the fourth foal, we hope to run him around Christmas time.

I thought I'd better write a line for dual purpose, old- timer Night Orbit who after a fabulous career winning on the flat turf, all- weather, hurdles and had multiple placings over fences started his new life as a riding horse in Soham this week where he can spend his senior years relaxing and filling another families life with joy. He was the ultimate school master at home leading schooling and teaching the young riders and young horses about the game.

We travelled to Nottingham on Wednesday and ended up in the winners enclosure twice out of the three runners. Sancho Panza ran his last race of the season finishing a gallant 3rd, they went 15 seconds slower than average which was a hindrance as he is a real stayer and did well to plug on into fourth. Sail Home ran well without being placed but the 1m 2f trip probably found her out of a little more toe, but Entrance impressed on her fast finishing 3rd. She has been a bit disappointing after her 40-1 success earlier in the year and hopefully she can time it better next time.

Next week we will again go to Nottingham this time with Automotive, he ran dismally on his reappearance after coming over from France but we are convinced a switch to turf from Wolverhampton last time will show his true colours as he has been impressing with his work at home. Also at that venue and day is Dolly Bay but the rain has come and gone against her as she would prefer ground like a road.

As the sun is struggling to rise early at this time of the year so I thought I'd impress you with my picture taking skills on the heath this week!

I almost had kittens!

It has been quite a busy week runner's wise, but my mind was occupied on Tuesday by the arrival of 4 feral kittens. A friend had found them and asked if I was willing to house them as their mother was run over and were left to fend for themselves at the tender age of about 6 weeks, they are still quite wild but this one didn't mind having his/ her photo taken!

Blackmore ran another puzzling run on Monday at Pontefract, when he seemed to travel much better but his jockey Paul Hanagan reported than he was unrideable due to his hanging. He's had back problems in the past but we cannot seem to find the reason now, I even blew off the dust off my riding boots yesterday to have a sit on him in a bit of work and he seemed very well physically, maybe the problem is in his head after his back issues.

We had a seaside trip to Yarmouth on Tuesday with Dolly Bay and Exopuntia. The former was racing for the first time in handicap company and seemed to struggle with the bit of give in the ground, but the latter, Exopuntia relished the conditions to come home a much improved 2nd. She's been a bit in and out this season but she runs best fresh and will hopefully have a lucrative all- weather season at Southwell.

Thursday saw Khajaaly back to the place he knows best, Wolverhampton. He has never been out of the first 4 in all his visits and he kept his record in tact when coming in 4th under Jimmy Quinn's substitute Paul Hanagan. They didn't seem to go a quick pace like he enjoys but will be back to regain his crown in the coming months.

Bavarica went to her favourite track, Newbury, on Saturday in the lady amateur rider's race under Shelley, but only managed 5th after travelling sweetly in behind she was left with daylight in the straight and could not throw down a challenge.

We managed to find a home for injury plagued Dakota Hues on Sunday. The 5 year old had only managed one visit to the racecourse, but he was finally sound enough for a lovely riding home in Lakenheath where we have sent other retired horses in the past.

Next week sees the start of the Horses in Training Sale at Tattersalls where I will be spending most of my time so I may send John off to the races. On Wednesday Sancho Panza will look to forward his consistent season and Sail Home may run in the amateur race if she gets some rain, Entrance is also entered in this race but being a 3 year old she is finding it hard to get in races with older horses due to the weight allowance. Bavarica may contest in a Listed race at Lingfield on Thursday, it is probably the last chance we'll get in going for the black type for her before she goes to stud and would be nice if she could bow out in style.

Jockeys Getting Me Angry

I was pretty furious when I heard on Thursday that a whole host of jockeys (represented by the Professional Jockeys Association) where planning to boycott racing on Monday and, without their services, no racing could go ahead.
It may seem a straightforward thing for them to do but the repercussions are more severe for owners and trainers. For instance, we have Blackmore running tomorrow at Pontefract. It is the first time in a long while he has had perfectly suitable ground and yet he could have been denied a great opportunity to run well if the jockeys had forced a strike. Luckily the matter is now going to an important meeting on the same day and I hope an agreement can be reached but, as I said last week, I don't think there is anything wrong with the rules, jockeys just need to learn to stick to them.

Whilst words flew on racecourses about the new rule, many of racing great and good were at Tattersalls October yearling sales, looking for the stars of the future.
The market was incredibly strong considering the financial climate and, although there were some lovely looking individuals, I feel a lot of people could have got more for their money. Knowing this, I waited until the last day of the five-leg auction to make my move and, as a result, I think I got a real bargain.
She is a bay filly (below) by top two-year old stallion Bertolini and is related to many other juvenile winners.

I hadn't gone to the sales to specifically buy her but she really caught my eye and I hope she can emulate Red Hearts, a two year old we did really well with this summer - in the space of six months, we bought her for £6000, won a maiden with a £10,000 bonus, won another race and then sold her on for a profit. This filly looks just the type to be as successful.
Shares are available at £600 per 10th or £5500 as a whole. The majority shareholder gets to name her.

As if there aren't enough things to go against you in racing, the weather well and truly scuppered our only entry this week. When I entered Entrance for Redcar last Saturday, the official going was Firm yet come race day, the north had suffered enough wet weather to make the ground Good to Soft, Soft in places. As the filly loves top of the ground, we had no choice but to not run. Luckily we knew early enough so there was no wasted journey.

The horsebox may have had an easy time of it recently but it will be earning its fuel this week as we've got a few runners.
As already mentioned, Blackmore goes to Pontefract tomorrow with a great chance. We've managed to get Paul Hanagan to ride him and I'd love to help Paul win another jockeys' championship as he is a true role model for youngsters in the sport to follow.

We're double handed at Yarmouth the next day as Exopuntia comes back from a short break. She might just be a bit short on fitness due to a few small problems but she usually goes well fresh and if the ground has some cut in it, she should run well. Likewise with Dolly Bay who makes her handicap debut. We think her new handicap mark is generous and five furlongs is her trip so it looks like she should run well.

Khajaaly must be the only living creature around that loves going night racing to Wolverhampton but he seems to always run well at the track and heads back there on Thursday. He went up a few pounds for his win last time but is in great form and a bold bid is expected.

It looks likely that Bavarica will end her racing career this season and then be put in foal so I hope she can run well at Newbury on the weekend even though she doesn't really owe us anything. Shelley will ride her and if they can do the same as the last time they paired up, I will be delighted. Sail Home will also be entered just in case the race splits and she is really coming back to form. Her coat is one of the best in the yard at the minute as some are getting a bit woolly for winter and her second place last time was a step in the right direction.

Usually I would take Ross to the races so he could drive the horsebox back home but I'll have to do without him now as he jets off to Dubai to start work for the Dubai Racing Channel during the winter. He was meant to go out at the start of the month but the country's strict visa regulations have meant a delay in getting things sorted but he goes tomorrow looking forward to the challenge ahead.

Whipping Up A Storm

There has been plenty said in recent weeks about the new whip rules that came into effect today but, despite all the criticism it has received, I'm in favour of the ruling.
It's surprising how many of my horses do not like having the whip used on them - Sancho Panza changed from Master Moderate to Mr Consistent just because we found out he didn't like being beaten up and, more recently, Sail Home has improved her form with stick-less riding.
These two maybe pretty honest and give 100% anyway but thinking back to the lazier types I've had (Night Orbit for instance) he ran in three-mile hurdle races and wouldn't travel with much enthusiasm but I always told the jockeys not to hit him immediately but just push out with hands and heels to encourage him.
It's not because whipping horses hurts them - the equipment used nowadays is fully padded and the kids say it doesn't hurt when I give them a good crack round the ear hole!

What the whip is good for though is educating young horses to teach them to run straight and behave. Talking of inexperienced horses, I have just sent three off to be 'broken in'. For those that don't know what this term means, the horses will basically be taught how to have a rider on their back and a bit in their mouth. They left the yard as pretty wild beasts and will hopefully come back as proper racehorses, ready to begin their careers.

The fixture list has been a bit sparse for suitable races for the horses recently and Entrance is our sole representative this week at Redcar on Friday. She loves firm ground and the official going is 'firm' there at the minute so if it stays that way, I think she'll have a great chance. My daughter Shelley takes the mount and seems to get the best out of her so everything looks in place for a good run.

We did have some disappointing displays this week that very much had that 'end of season' feeling.
Emma's Gift put in a lacklustre effort at Nottingham on Wednesday and Jimmy Quinn said she needs a pair of blinkers to help her concentrate.
He also rode Automotive two days later and our hopes were high for a decent show after he had been working impressively. Unfortunately, he just didn't fire and looked as though a step up in trip is what he needs. He definitely has ability though and when we find the key to him he should be winning.

Another one for the future is Dolly Bay. She had her third run at Windsor on Monday and now qualifies for handicaps. I don't think she'll be rated very high and is perfectly capable of winning a five furlong race somewhere.



Three To Follow Update
1st - Richard Salmon, Shelley Birkett 44 points.
3rd - Maureen Youngs 38 points
4th - Peter Darlington 36 points
5th - Adam Beschizza 34 points
6th - Jim Cannon, Martyn Clark 33 points
8th - Rita Aspland 30 points
9th - Ross Birkett, Bill Aspland 28 points
Six others on 23 points, 2 on 22, 1 on 21, 6 on 20, 3 on 18, 2 on 15, 1 on 8 and one entry on five points.

Feeling hot, hot, hot

It's October and we've just had a barbecue. As unbelievable as it sounds, whilst in previous years England would be fighting off early-morning frosts and chilly nights around now, we have been experiencing some extremely warm weather and I'm not complaining.

Longchamp in Paris today looked like a great place to be for the Arc and the Brits had some top results, most notably with David Simcock's Dream Ahead narrowly beating the champion mare Goldikova. Many people felt disappointed after Danedream won the big race but a quick look at her form shows you that she had won her last two German Group 1s very easily so maybe she wasn't the outsider we thought she should be.

Despite the sunny times meaning the ground is a bit too firm for some horses, I think we should make the most of the current temperatures because it won't be long before we don't see the mercury rise much above zero.
Even more extraordinarily, it was actually warm at Newcastle on Wednesday. Many have said that Tyneside doesn't get very hot but we were positively sweltering at Gosforth Park.
It was great to see loads of Blackmore's owners make the journey to see him run but it was a shame that the race didn't go as planned and he found himself in the wrong place when the pace quickened.
We don't go to racecourses further than three hours away from home very often and this result didn't do much to tempt us again!

Luckily the journey to Warwick the following day was a lot shorter and we got a better result too. Ross was pretty confident that Sail Home would win and even though she came second at 10/1, it was good to see her run well after some disappointing efforts. We seem to be finding the key to her too as she does get quite worked up at the races so we are finding ways to keep her as calm as possible.

Dolly Bay at Windsor kicks off the week tomorrow and even though she needs just one more run to qualify for handicaps, she might just be good enough to nick a place. She is probably one of the fastest horses in the yard but that is also her downfall - last time she went off too quickly before falling in a heap. If Adam can restrain her early on then hopefully she can finish with a dash.

Also with a place chance is Emma's Gift at Nottingham on Wednesday. She has struggled since winning at Ascot earlier in the year but has come down the handicap as a result. Helpfully, the track's watering system has not been working lately so she should get the lightening quick ground that she loves.

The most exciting horse of the week though comes on Friday when Automotive (below) goes to Wolverhampton.

We bought him from France in July and he had only had three runs. When he came to us, we couldn't believe he had raced even that much as he was very colty and unfit. Since then we have gelded him and his work, after a slow start, has been getting better and better. He might be a big price when he runs so is definitely worth a bit each way. Whatever he shows this time he will improve on next time too.

Sancho Panza (above, nearest) is getting towards the end of a long season but goes to Goodwood at the weekend back over two miles which should be right up his street. It is a flat race but for jump jockeys and I'm hoping to be cheeky and get Richard Hughes as he does hold a jumps licence and would really suit the horse. No doubt he will be in high demand though but whoever rides him, I hope he has enough left in the tank to land a place.

Three To Follow Update

Sail Home's second place didn't alter the scores of the main protagonists but it meant that a number of people are now biting at their heels after moving up the leader board.